


Rubber Bullets

by The_Anwarrior



Series: Priorities [4]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Angst, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Smut, Some Fluff But Not a Whole Lot Because Smut, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-05-04 09:08:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 29,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14589684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Anwarrior/pseuds/The_Anwarrior
Summary: Ryder and the Tempest Crew jump back into action.





	1. Snow

**Author's Note:**

> You had to see some angst coming. I mean, come on.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Sara’s eyes twinkled at the cosmic panorama that surrounded her. She heard Suvi enter through the bridge door behind her and asked her opinion of the view.

Suvi paused while soaking in the view of her Pathfinder. “Gorgeous,” She husked. She continued to stride towards Ryder, approach her from behind and wrap her arms around her.

“Sometimes I get so caught up in the action that I forget to just take a second and enjoy this beauty of a galaxy.” Ryder bounced her eyes from star to star, attempting to find any kind of pattern.

Behind Sara, Doctor Anwar placed a small kiss on Sara’s shoulder blade. “I like to come up here while Kallo naps or while he’s on break and just drink it in.” She ran her fingers along the length of Sara’s ribs and down her side. “It’s pretty romantic, don’t you think?” She hinted.

The blonde looked to Suvi out of the corner of her eye. “I suppose it is, yeah.” She agreed with a slight curve of her lip. As Ryder continued to drive her eyes along the stars and enjoy the comfortable silence with her lover, she noticed Suvi’s hand inching past the elastic on her waistband. She furrowed her brow with curiosity and looked over her shoulder to see a smirking redhead behind her.

Sara didn’t protest as Suvi’s hand found it’s way to it’s destination. Ryder leaned forward, bearing her weight on the map console in front of her as Suvi never slowed down to please her partner.

Doctor Anwar kissed the back of Ryder’s neck and whispered in her ear. “Sara.”

The blonde shuddered at the warm breath of her fiancée on her skin, driving her the slightest bit crazy when she heard it again.

“Sara.”

Ryder tilted her head back, and rested it on Suvi’s shoulder. She grabbed onto the redhead’s arm and began to beg for more.

“Sara!”

“ _Huh_ , what?” Ryder’s head sprung up as she blinked away her grogginess.

“Have you not been checking your messages?” Scott stood in front of his sister’s bed and waited for a reply.

The Pathfinder sat upright in bed and rubbed her eyes, still disoriented from her sleep. “I… what?”

Scott rolled his eyes and continued. “Suvi wanted to let you sleep in. We land on Voeld within the hour, so get ready.” Scott turned on his heels and left Sara alone in her room again.

“The most action I get in a month and it’s a dream I get woken from.” Sara mumbled to herself.

Already fully-armored, Ryder stood with Cora and PeeBee on the bridge to talk strategy. She felt the small prickle of anticipation and adrenaline as she stood on the bridge, awaiting her meeting with Priya Blake. It had been a decent while since Sara had worked with her team.

Meridian was founded and settled, the Archon was defeated and the Arks were all returned to the Nexus. Ryder knew once the major checkpoints on the list were crossed out, her job wouldn’t be as demanding as it had previously been. Though even the top threats were extinguished, Sara knew there was still plenty to do- and she was itching to do it.

“So we really don’t know how big of a hoopla this is, do we?” PeeBee speculated. “I mean, the only information we have is that Blake sent out a provision team and they haven’t made it back. That could be anything. What makes you think it’s serious?”

Ryder strode over to her terminal and pulled up her email. “This.” Sara pointed to seven individual emails listed as emergencies. “I’ve gotten several emails over the past week that there seems to be some sort of ‘giant remnant bot’ in the same area that Blake sent her team through.”

“‘Giant remnant bot’, huh?” Cora could feel her lips being forced into a smile. “You know what it sounds like.”

PeeBee’s face lit up with joy as she jumped to read the emails. “An architect! No way. And you’re taking me?”

Ryder screwed her face and looked to the asari. “You’re the team’s remnant expert, why would I not take you?”

PeeBee continued talking as she scanned over the emails, hoping to find some gory details. “Well because Cora said I’m annoying and you said it was true-”

Cora moved to cut PeeBee off. “You _are_ annoying, but you’re knowledge of the remnant is prodigious.”

“And I’m fun to be around.” PeeBee added.

“Sometimes, like if you’re sedated or if I’m drunk.” The commando immediately replied.

Suvi sat silently at her post and pretended to be predisposed, when in reality she heard every bit of the women’s conversation. She wasn’t as knowledgeable on the remnant as PeeBee was, but she knew what an Architect was and what it was capable of. The thought of her one love fighting such a massive monster was a hard pill to swallow.

It was never any different for Suvi; it never got easier. Sara Ryder would always walk down the ramp and out into danger. Perhaps she would collect some bumps and bruises along the way, but she always did come back. The science officer sat quietly in her post, careful not to intervene this time. Sure she was afraid for Sara’s welfare, but she continued to repeat to herself that Sara _always_ comes back- it’s who she is- it’s her job.

“Why are you coming anyways? You’re a _biotic commando_.” PeeBee mocked.

Harper scowled at the asari in confusion and offense. “As if being a biotic commando isn’t helpful?”

“You might want to watch your mouth, PeeBee.” Sara quipped from the loadout station. “Cora has shield-assist. If you want some extra protection, you might not want to insult your best chance at survival.”

Kallo and Suvi shared a chuckle as Cora crossed her arms and lifted her chin. She raised an eyebrow at PeeBee who sported a defeated expression.

“Pathfinder, LZ is in sight.” Kallo chirped over his shoulder, cutting the banter a bit short.

Sara pulled up her Omni-tool and sent a quick message to her best rapid-fire gunner. “Vetra, meet us in the cargo bay. We depart in five.”

PeeBee once again picked up her enthusiasm. “Vetra is coming, too? Road trip!”

The commando rolled her eyes and looked to Sara. “Longest road trip in fucking history.” She mumbled.

The four women trudged through the ice into Tarev Uni and met with the outpost leader, Priya Blake.

“Pathfinder Ryder, it’s good to see you again.” Blake outreached a hand for Sara to welcome her to Voeld.

Ryder matched her palm with Priya’s and shook her hand. “Certainly,” She agreed. “I just wish we didn’t have to meet under such grueling circumstances.”

Priya Blake was the first of several to contact Sara about the Architect. The email was a bit vague, not listing any concern for an Architect at all, but rather emailing Sara to investigate the cause of her missing teams. A couple of days went by after receiving Blake’s email and Sara had a flood of messages related to a remnant bot. Ryder had to put the pieces together to assume an Architect had something to do with the team’s disappearance.

Priya met with the Pathfinder’s ground team for no more than ten minutes before Ryder made the call. Blake gave a specific route that her team frequently took. All Sara had to do was follow the route and trace any threat that left behind any evidence.

Ryder drove her team nearly 20 miles out of the outpost into what seemed to be a trench or valley of some sort. “This is the location of the team’s datapad, so they got lost somewhere around in this area.”

“I don’t like being stuck in a valley.” Cora attested.

Vetra grunted in agreement to Cora’s statement. “Maybe Blake’s team got caught in this valley _by_ the architect and that’s what got them killed in the first place.”

Ryder threw her eyes around the hills that surrounded them and rejected the concerns of her two teammates. “Regardless, we need to get rid of this thing. Besides, if we’re in the valley and this architect ambushes us, we’ll be ready.”

The Pathfinder drove through the slick snow for only a full minute until reaching a decent-sized camp base. As Sara stopped the nomad, the four women sat in silence to scan their surroundings.

“What is this place?” Vetra questioned while her eyes darted around the structures ahead of them.

Sara squinted her eyes and looked around as she voiced her opinion. “It looks like an old Kett camp.”

“Uh, guys…” PeeBee spoke up as her focus was drawn to something in the sky.

Cora looked up in the same direction PeeBee did. Upon spotting something coming closer, the commando narrowed her eyes and realized what it was. “Architect! Get out of the nomad now!”

Following the second in command’s instructions, the four women tumbled out of the vehicle armed and armored. They each took cover behind the structures of the Kett camp and released the safety on their guns.

As the Architect took a moment to land, PeeBee diligently studied over the structures of the bot. Her eyes traced over the remnant in astonishment, gathering any details she could on how to take it down. Once the bot had landed, she automatically focused on the weak points in the ‘joints’ of it. She realized that was what needed to be destroyed first.

The architect screeched in a harrowing tone upon planting itself in the snow. Ryder grimaced at the remnant’s cry and looked to Cora. The commando held a similar expression to Sara’s as the two traded looks.

Distracted by the sound, Cora kept her focus on Sara for no more than a couple of seconds. However, two seconds was enough for the Architect to make it’s move. Harper was thrown back by a shot to the stomach.

Ryder watched her friend hurtle through the air in fright. She knew Cora was okay, however, considering her shields were the strongest on the team. Sara swiveled her head around to the Architect and gave it no more advantages. She called out plans and attacks to the other women as she released her first magazine into the head of the bot.

“Shoot the joints!” PeeBee called. She wasn’t sure if she was heard through the percussive rocketing of bullets. The asari found that she wasn’t noticed and ran back to help Cora reach her feet.

“Thanks.” Cora sighed as she returned to her usual combat stance.

“Shoot it in the joints, those are the weak spots. Go tell Vetra!” PeeBee wasted no time in bolting over to the Pathfinder.

The asari dodged stray bullets and explosions that landed near her. She sprinted full speed to cover closest to Sara. “Ryder!” PeeBee glanced over to Sara continuously chipping away at the head of the Architect and tried to catch her attention. She threw a biotic lance next to Sara’s head, successfully getting Ryder to see her. “Shoot the joints!”

“ _What_?” Sara hollered over the sound of gunshots ringing off the structure that shielded her.

“The joints, shoot the-” The asari cut her statement short as she found herself surrounded by a purple bubble that was beginning to grow darker.

“Damnit,” Sara mumbled to herself while watching PeeBee. Ryder wrinkled her nose in exertion and biotically shoved the asari out of harm’s way just before the purple orb exploded. She looked over to Cora and Vetra both shooting at the Architect’s legs and realized what the remnant expert had instructed her to do. Ryder wielded her N7 Valkyrie and mirrored Cora and Vetra’s actions.

As time ticked by and the Architect grew feeble, the ground team began to grow tired as well. It took every grain of momentum the team had, but the Architect had finally fallen. The four women huffed in exhaustion and shuffled over to huddle together.

The ground team stood in a small circle heaving to catch their breath in silence. Vetra, PeeBee and Cora all quietly awaited further orders from their Pathfinder.

Sara narrowed her eyes, looking around at the damage that her team had dealt. She swallowed, though her throat stung from the cold air. Ryder lifted up her hand and fist-bumped her crew. “I need a fucking nap.” Sara croaked.

The other three women attempted a chuckle but were too tired to mean it. “Or a drink.” Vetra added.

Ryder chuckled at the glorious thought of having a stiff drink directly before passing out all over her king-sized bed. Without warning, a random bullet buzzed through the air and found its target. Sara’s head violently swung back with an unnerving power as she fell to the ground.

PeeBee and Vetra instantly lifted their guns the second Sara hit the ground. The two women scanned furiously for any kind of threat around them, but the snow was much too thick to see.

Cora watched as Ryder fell down and sunk into the snow. She felt her blood run cold and heard the blood pounding in her ears. Against all of her training and taught instinct, she fell to her knees and tried to rouse Ryder, desperately searching for a pulse or breath or some sign of life. She sat and watched her best friend die in the snow and there was no help to offer.

After failing to find anybody or anything else in their vicinity, Vetra dropped her gun to the ground and pulled up her omni-tool. “Tempest we need immediate extraction at these coordinates. Lexi on standby, the Pathfinder is down!”

On the Tempest, Kallo immediately sprang into action and rushed to his seat. Suvi watched as the salarian bolted out of the medbay doors. “What?” The redhead hesitated and shifted her focus to Lexi. Her voice was small and feeble as she asked for clarity. “What did she say?”

Lexi paused for one second to gather her bearings and jumped up to prepare for any and every type of situation she could think of. “Suvi, you should leave.”

Doctor Anwar stood stock-still, unable to move. The message ran through her mind a thousand times over, thinking there must be some mistake.

Doctor T’Perro looked over her shoulders as she collected a heap of different medical supplies and sighed. “Drack, please come to the medbay and escort Suvi to her room.”

“No!” Suvi collected her thoughts and refused to leave. “I’ll cause no trouble as long as I stay in this room, Lexi. I stay in this room.” She snarled through a quivering voice at the Doctor that was prepping to save her fiancée’s life.

Lexi huffed at her friend’s demands but understood them. “Fine, but you go get Scott first and bring him here.”

“Lexi!” Suvi moved to protest, but fell short of the Doctor’s commands.

“Now!”

Suvi lingered for a moment longer before submitting to Lexi’s conditions. She wiped away her tears and marched out of the medbay to find Sara’s brother.

With the absence of Suvi, Lexi was able to let herself falter for a quick moment. There were plenty of times she treated the team of minor injuries, but she had never had to _single-handedly s_ ave a life, much less the Pathfinder’s life, in such a small workplace. She felt she was under an immeasurable amount of pressure, so she allowed herself thirty seconds to be scared. Then she pulled herself together and continued preparing for work.

Cora cradled the Pathfinder’s head and examined the bullet wound on Sara’s forehead. The bullet was approximately two centimeters off center and there was no exit wound. There was a chance she could be revived. “SAM?”

“The Pathfinder suffers from a subdural hematoma to her frontal lobe. Prognosis is death unless treated immediately.” The machine-like voice of the AI gave an eerie touch to the situation as Cora tried her hardest not to panic.

“How much time do we have, SAM?” PeeBee asked as she watched the commando hold on to Ryder.

SAM calculated the time and replied to the asari. “Two minutes, forty-three seconds.”

Vetra pulled up her Omni-tool once more and began shouting. “Kallo, hurry up!”

The turian’s arm lit up with the pilot’s reply. “We’re going through some chop, I’m going as fast as I can.”

“I don’t care if Lexi has to sprout wings and fly here herself, just get her here!” Vetra gave one last look at Sara before picking up her gun and scanning the area again for anyone in sight.

“SAM, what does Sara need, can we help her here?” Cora’s voice faltered as she held herself together.

“The Pathfinder needs three burr holes surrounding the wound to relieve pressure on the brain.” The AI responded.

“What the fuck are burr holes?” Cora shouted through tears that began to break loose.

“They’re here! I see the Tempest!” Vetra shouted while looking through the scope of her gun.

“Help me get her up.” Harper sniffled through her command and clung onto any hope she could garner.

The Tempest swooped down and landed in the snow, barely touching the ground as the three women hauled Sara up the ramp. Drack met the ground crew in the cargo bay, snatched Sara away and marched straight for the medbay.

The krogan gently set the Pathfinder down on the bed and studied the damage. “That doesn’t look good.”

“Move!” Suvi shoved at the krogan to get around him and get a glimpse of her wounded fiancée. Once her eyes met with Ryder, she gasped and tears began to fall.

Sara’s limp body was lying on the bed with a paleness the crew had never seen. The grim realization began to set in for the crew as they all caught a small glimpse of Ryder’s color- or lack thereof.

Lexi took one look at Sara and gathered the medical supplies she needed. She never took her eyes off the field as she spoke up. “Suvi, I’m sorry.”

Suvi sniffled at Lexi and paused her crying as she wondered what she meant.

The asari tilted her head in the door’s direction and glanced at the krogan. “Drack.”

Drack moved in to grab the scientist and remove her from the room, but Suvi wouldn’t leave without a fight. “No! Drack please, don’t! Lexi!” Despite her best efforts, Drack placed Suvi in the hallway along with the rest of the crew.

It was the heaviest two hours the crew had ever felt as they waited in silence for an update. Once Lexi completed the procedure, she trudged through the door, causing Suvi, Scott and Cora to  immediately stand.

“How is she?” Suvi wept as she tried to catch a peek through the door. Scott and Cora held each other’s hand as they waited for Lexi’s report

“She’s alive.” The Doctor stated. “These next twenty-four hours are critical but she’s strong.”

“Can we see her?” Scott pleaded, asking the question everyone wanted to know.

Doctor T’Perro gave a slight nod as they entered through the door.

Suvi was the first to rush over to her fiancée and held her hand. She began sobbing at the weakened look of the woman she loved. Doctor Anwar has never known a feeling quite so helpless and agonizing as she felt the cool skin on her hand.

Harper felt sick as her eyes panned over Sara’s pallor body. She remembered watching the bullet make contact with Sara’s head. Her initial thought was that it was all over. The Pathfinder was gone, her best friend was gone and everyone that had ever mattered to her would end up meeting the same fate. “What next? What do we do now?”

“We wait for her to wake up.” Lexi plainly stated.

“Well how do we know if she even _will_ wake up?” Scott countered Lexi’s statement and buried his eyes into hers.

Suvi hushed her crying and turned her head to meet Lexi. She waited for the Doctor’s reply with bated breath.

Lexi took a moment longer to conjure up the bravery to answer. “We don’t.” Her eyes met the ground and felt all guilt rushing in to swarm her.

“ _What_?” Suvi stood up and faced Doctor T’Perro with tears streaming down her reddened cheeks. “Lexi, you’re a Doctor.” She whimpered. “Isn’t it your _job_ to save people? I mean, that’s what you do, right, you _save lives_?”

Scott and Cora held a suspenseful look to the Doctor in question and Lexi kept her eyes on the ground.

“Suvi-”

The redhead sat back down beside Sara and looked over her face. She spotted the scar Ryder was so insecure of many months ago. With most color lost from her face, the scar was nearly invisible. Suvi watched each breath Sara took and reminded herself of how tough her Pathfinder was. Everything Ryder had been through was not enough to break her down. This couldn’t be the end.

“Just- please.” Suvi begged. “Save her life.”

  


 

 

 


	2. Clue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The women come together to find the culprit. Scott provides some comfort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments are always appreciated. I hope you guys enjoy.

The body is a work of art. Each organ works in sync with one another to perform a certain function, each function serves a purpose and each purpose keeps the body alive. When the brain undergoes such trauma, the brain isn’t always able to tell each organ what to do. First, it’s the kidneys that begin to fail, then the liver usually dies shortly after. When people survive such terminal injuries and the body contradicts itself- that’s when science fails. Some may call it divine intervention, some would call it willpower, others might even say it simply wasn’t their time. Despite all different beliefs, it happens, and no one truly knows why.

Vetra, Cora, Lexi, and PeeBee all sat huddled in the Tech Lab of the Nexus discussing the events of the day Sara was shot. Nobody knew who the shooter was, but they were determined to find ouy. It was a hard task finding out who would harm Sara, considering she had so many enemies.

“How does someone survive a shot like that anyways?” PeeBee pondered. “I’m assuming it was at some kind of distance since we couldn’t see anybody around, but the extent of the injury wasn’t as bad as it could have been.” 

“Oh, right.” Lexi jumped up and scuttled over to the counter to display her latest piece of evidence- the bullet which was sealed in a plastic bag. “At first glance I was just extracting it, I didn’t hardly notice, but after further study, I realized something was off about this bullet.” The asari handed over the plastic bag to Cora for her to examine.

“It’s rubber.” Cora observed. “Why would someone shoot the Pathfinder with a rubber bullet?”

Lexi stood over ther commando to explain what she learned from earlier that morning. “I had Lieutenant Sajax study this for a consult and she let me in on some information. Apparently some people use rubber bullets to deal enough damage witho-”

“Without getting caught.” PeeBee interrupted Doctor T’Perro and finished the statement for her. “I know someone who does that.”

Scott watched the rise and fall of his sister’s chest. The deflating and inflating of her lungs was enough comfort to give him hope that one day she would wake up. As long as Sara’s body circulated blood and her brain showed some activity, there was hope. He held onto her hand which was nearly half the size of his and cried.

The youngest of the two held Sara’s hand up to his forehead and whispered pleas to his sister. “I’m begging you,” Scott weeped quietly. Please wake up.”

“Scott, why don’t you take a break.” Harry interceded. “You’ve been here all day and night for almost a week now. Go home and get some rest. I’ll watch her.” Doctor Carlyle’s eyes trailed around the features of Scott’s face and spotted the resemblance. 

The Ryder twins did favor each other to the point they were unmistakably siblings. Though the differences in their appearance were more apparent than their similarities. Scott looked most like his father. Tall, slender and cut with sharp facial features. Sara favored her mother most. Soft features with a shorter stature and slender cut. 

Carlyle watched the way Scott clung onto his sister and beseeched her to open her eyes and realized the two were most alike personality wise over appearance. The Ryder’s were the most stubborn, hard-headed and strong-willed people Harry had ever met. It took him by surprise when Scott agreed to Harry’s terms. 

“I’ll be back in the morning.” Scott sniffled as he pried himself away from Sara. “I’m going to check on my Mom and try to sleep.” He croaked as he trudged away.

Harry watched the young man drag his feet along the floor and out of the medical bay. He glued his eyes onto the unconscious woman on the bed and whispered to her. “Come back soon, Ryder.”

“Okay wait, wait.” Cora closed her eyes to make sense of the situation. “Exactly how does a rubber bullet make it impossible for someone to get caught?” 

“No, it doesn’t.” PeeBee countered to offer clarity. “It saves the trouble of buying or finding real ammunition which can be traced to a gun type. When a rubber bullet is used, no one can tell which type of gun was used, therefore it can’t be traced.”

“So we’re looking at an untraceable threat that’s still roaming Andromeda trying to kill our Pathfinder?” Vetra crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat. On the outside, Vetra always appeared so collected, though on the inside, Vetra was red with rage. Someone out there was hunting her Pathfinder and one of her best friends- a member of her family. She would strip apart every planet to find the one who was responsible for the damage if need be.

“Not exactly.” PeeBee corrected. All eyes quickly shifted to the asari and awaited her explanation. “I think I have a hunch as to who could have done this.”

“ _ Who _ ?” Lexi jumped the gun and skipped past being patient. 

PeeBee was all for helping her team, especially Pathfinder Ryder, though it pained her to turn in her used-to-be bondmate. “I think it was Kalinda.”

“ _ Kalinda _ ?” Cora questioned. “Didn’t you used to be  _ with  _ her?” 

“That’s besides the point. Look, I spent a lot of time fighting with Kalinda. I know how she works, and  _ this  _ was her doing.” The asari raised her voice to show she was serious.

“What makes you so sure?” Lexi chimed in from the corner.

PeeBee sighed and dropped her head between her shoulders. Kalinda was part of her past, but there was always a part of PeeBee that would care about her. It twisted her insides to willingly turn Kalinda over. “Kalinda emailed me a few days before we found the Arcitect.” 

After a small bout of silence, Vetra grew impatient. “Saying what?”

PeeBee scanned her eyes along the three women that watched her. “She told me she was going to study the Architect. She was doing all of it to rub it in my face.”

“And you didn’t say anything?” Cora snapped. “You didn’t think to maybe tell Ryder?”

“No, I didn’t want to tell Ryder!” The asari huffed in frustration. Having known the possible shooter made PeeBee feel guilty. “I knew if I told her someone was studying it, it would hinder the investigation of Blake’s team. Ryder would probably want to push back the search and… I didn’t want that.” PeeBee confessed.

The commando gave a sideways glance to PeeBee and snarled at her. “So you withheld information because you were impatient?”

“You didn’t even know about the Arcitect until the last minute, though.” Vetra assumed.

“That’s not true. I knew about the Architect, I just didn’t want Ryder to know. She would ask how I knew and then I’d have to tell her.” PeeBee’s voice grew smaller and smaller as she continued with her story. The grueling guilt flooded over her with each unapproving grunt Cora made.

Lieutenant Harper popped out of her seat and set both hands on the table in front of her, her voice thick and guttural “I can’t believe after everything Sara’s done-”

“That’s enough.” Lexi cut Cora short to calm the situation. “We are all angry for what happened to Sara, and no one here is to blame. Berating each other isn’t going to help that.” She added. “Let’s all take a break and come back tomorrow. We could all use some rest.”

While the three women dismissed themselves to catch some much needed sleep, Lexi took it upon herself to check on Ryder one last time before finding some shuteye as well. 

Scott lumbered up the ramp to the Tempest and made his way to the bio-lab. He knew sleep would be nearly impossible to come by, but perhaps he simply needed to step away from the stress of the medbay for a moment. 

The young man met the door to Sara’s room just before climbing the ladder. He stood for brief second and wondered what her room looked like without her. He wondered if it was as messy as her room back on the citadel used to be. He wondered if it smelled like her. Looking for any opportunity to remind himself that Sara was still alive, he opened the door.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you would be here so early.” Scott muttered. His eyes caught the back of his mother’s head and wondered if he and his mother were having the same difficulties of finding peace.

Ellen turned around in her seat, face red with tears that have passed. “It’s fine. I just needed to get away from the Nexus.”

Scott approached Ellen from behind. He placed his hands on each side of his Mother’s face and kissed the top of her head. “I get that.” The young man sat beside Ellen and drew in the welcoming silence. It was a new kind of silence- not the haunting silence that surrounded him in he medbay. It was the type of quiet that let him hear his thoughts and relax.

“I was nice of Suvi to let you stay here.” Scott mentioned.

Ellen hummed and nodded. “She’s a kind girl.”

Scott grew quiet again and sunk deeper into thought until he spoke up. “Speaking of the Doctor, where is she? I haven’t seen her since this morning.” 

“Suvi’s been in the shower for quite some time now.” Ellen replied in a dry fashion. Not much else mattered to Doctor Ryder other than the health of her daughter. 

The blonde furrowed his brow, wondering why Suvi was holed up in the shower. Scott stood to leave and marched straight for the bathroom to get answers for himself.

Much to his suspicions, the bathroom door was locked. His many failed attempts at knocking and calling out to Suvi ignited the worry to hack it and unlock it himself. “I’m coming in!” Scott shouted out a warning just before the door opened.

Scott’s blue eyes landed on the redhead sitting in the shower and his concern did nothing but swell in his chest. “Suvi.” He tried to get the Doctor’s attention but nothing would work. He watched His sister’s fiancée wash away with the water that poured over her. Part of Suvi’s actions were somewhat relieving to Scott. Watching someone care for his sister as much as he did was evidence that Sara was loved deeply.

A sigh tumbled out of the younger twin’s mouth as he reached to turn off the water. Suvi’s face remained unchanging throughout as Scott wrapped a towel around her. He took the liberty to care for Suvi the way Sara would if she were here. He knew undoubtedly that Sara wouldn’t want Suvi aching so painfully, so he took up the role of his sister in her absence. He sat behind Suvi in the shower and kept the towel around her. 

Doctor Anwar was hunched over in the floor of the shower. She wished, hoped, and prayed that the water would have the same effect on her as it did her fiancée. “When Sara gets so stressed…”

Scott darted his eyes to Suvi’s as she spoke up in a small and raspy voice. He could barely make it the words she said, but at least she was talking. 

“She comes in here and takes a shower. She says the water washes away all of her problems.” Suvi chuckled as one spare tear escaped and trickled down her cheek. “Isn’t that ridiculous?”

The young man watched Suvi fall into a fixture of crying and laughter as her voice grew a bit louder. He waited quietly to decide which type of comfort of offer her.

“She was shot in the head. She might not wake up. Isn’t that ludicrous?” The tears began to break away once Suvi began talking, though she never tried to hold them back. There was no use. “Isn’t that the most ridiculous load of crap you’ve ever heard?”

Scott searched for words of assurance, but was interrupted my muffled yelling from outside the door. “I’m going to find out what’s going on.” Scott whispered as he made his exit.

“No. I need to know what the email said  _ verbatim _ . You need to show us this email, PeeBee. We need to know what’s going on!” Cora’s voice traveled throughout the Tempest as she demanded PeeBee for any information she had on Sara’s accident.

“Whoa, Whoa.” The blonde interrupted. “What’s all this yelling for?” Scott ran outside the bathroom door to find Cora and PeeBee planted in the hallway.

The commando threw out her arm to the asari in frustration. “PeeBee knows who shot Sara and won’t tell us anything else on the matter.”

“What?” Scott quickly darted his eyes to PeeBee before she moved to defend herself.

“That’s not true!” The asari countered. “I told you everything I know! I just don’t want the email to get out to everyone, Cora!”

Cora snarled at PeeBee’s vague excuse to keep the email hidden. “I’m the second in command of this ship, which means it’s my duty to defend the Pathfinder and her team. This email contains information that is required for me to do my job.”

PeeBee shifted her focus between Scott and Cora as she weighed the pros and cons. PeeBee wanted nothing more than to help Sara, but giving away the most evident piece of proof that PeeBee had most likely meant the death of an old friend. Was giving away a life worth it? The damage was already done.

“PeeBee, I know what you are thinking. You are scared for Kalinda, I get it. But this is for  _ Sara.  _ She shot her! She shot your Pathfinder!” Cora forced eye contact between the two of them and spoke lowly. “Show me this email.”

By the time Lexi made it to the medbay, most lights were out and most patients were already asleep. Lexi loved being in the medbay during night hours. It was being in the workplace that she loved so dearly without all the chaos of the workday. The silence of patients healthy and sleeping was a rarity that Doctor T’Perro always indulged in every chance she got.

Lexi’s eyes scanned over the sleeping clients and noticed Harry enjoying the small break himself as he had some free time to catch up on reports. Her eyebrows curled in and her eyes narrowed once she made contact with Sara. She could’ve sworn she was in a different position since she last saw her that afternoon.

The asari scuttled over towards her Pathfinder and spotted two blue eyes staring back at her. Lexi’s lips involuntary curved upwards, forming a smile. “Welcome back, Ryder. You gave us all quite a scare.”

Ryder shifted in the bed and tried to stretch her stiff joints and muscles. “What happened?” Her voice was raspy and clueless as her face crunched in discomfort.

Lexi pulled up a chair closer to Sara’s bed and began to explain the situation to the Pathfinder. “You were shot in the head after fighting an Architect.”

Sara’s face remained unchanging and tried to collect all the information she was given. “A  _ what _ ? Wait, how did I survive a gunshot to the head?”

“It was a rubber bullet. We’re still gathering all the data and investigating. However, it seems like the damage was not as extensive as it could have been.” Lexi shrugged and smiled at the young woman. “Perhaps it's a miracle.”

Doctor T’Perro watched as Sara seemed to put all the pieces together. “Oh, the team is on shore leave due to your accident, but the majority are staying here on the Tempest. It’s docked here so everyone could visit when they wanted.”

Sara watched the Doctor cluelessly as she spoke about her team. Her eyes bounced from wall to wall, trying to make sense of what Lexi was saying, but she was still trying to shake away the grogginess.

“Also, you’ve had quite the number of visitors today, especially Suvi. You’ve got her quite worried, but I kicked her out earlier this evening to get some rest.” Lexi filled Sara in on everything she could possibly be itching to ask.

Once again, Sara grimaced as she shifted in her bed to change positions. “Who?” Sara grunted.

“Suvi?” Lexi watched Sara and noticed she wasn't connecting the dots. Doctor T’Perro squinted her eyes at Sara and voiced her suspicions. “Sara, do you know where you are?”

Ryder rolled her eyes around the room and gave an unsure look to the Doctor. 

“Do you know who I am?” Lexi asked.

Ryder furrowed her brow and looked longingly at Lexi before slowly shaking her head. “No, but I have a feeling that you wouldn’t be asking me that unless I  _ should  _ know.”

Lexi looked over the Pathfinder in dark concern, pondering what step to take next. “Right.”

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know nothing about rubber bullets, but pretended I did for the sake of the story :)


	3. The Curse of Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexi hands off the news to a crewmate; The physicians begin to work with SAM to help their Pathfinder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for being patient with me as I’ve been out of town. Kudos and comments are always appreciated.

Doctor Anwar was resilient when it came to faith. She stood up for her beliefs on every occasion and never passed up an opportunity to discuss it. She saw faith as power, and she always believed there was power in prayer. Though, she always recalled her younger years wondering what happened when she prayed. One prayer will never change the outcome. One prayer cannot force a difference in the will of God or destiny. Suvi often found it quite confusing as to what the purpose of prayer was exactly. In some instances, prayer made quite the difference in helping Suvi feel better. In others, she wondered what the point was. It was one battle Suvi would constantly be fighting, but a battle worth fighting, nonetheless.

In her own distinctive opinion, ‘hope’ was somewhat of an ugly word to Suvi. In the back of her mind, she always knew hope was a good thing. Supposedly a small light in the midst of darkness, some say. But to Suvi, she loathed the thought of hope. It was the suspense of not knowing what was to come. Clinging onto every second with bated breath, praying and believing that a sliver of good could arise from such a horrible tragedy. Suvi begged for answers in the presence of hope- hope never helped her, and faith could only take her so far.

“Well, you have to tell them  _ something _ , Lexi. They deserve to know.” Harry talked at his fellow physician, telling her what she already knew, yet he wasn’t sure she was listening.

Lexi pondered deep in thought while keeping her eyes focused on Ryder. “And tell them what? She has no idea who any of us are?” She covered her face with both hands, trying to find the way to break such news.

It was part of the job. The one part of her job that cast a spell of agony and distress onto a family member or friend. Being a Doctor was a beneficial and edifying profession to say the least, but the impending sense of dread was always what made Lexi question her decision to be a Doctor.

Her many years of experience didn’t help Lexi adapt to breaking bad news. It was all the same. The five stages of grief were constantly displayed in front of her as she spoke devastating words to families. It took her hardly any time at all, however, to find out that the good outweighed the bad by far. She was meant to be a physician in every regard and she was well aware of it.

Doctor T’Perro heavily sighed as she looked to the near future. Her next few hours were surely going to be restless and stressful. “SAM, Who is currently  _ awake  _ on the Tempest?” Lexi took into account of everyone she sent to get some sleep and made her decision about who to tell first off of whoever wasn’t getting rest.

“Doctor Anwar is the only one not in bed, Doctor T’Perro.” SAM quickly responded and presented Lexi’s choice without further questions.

Lexi heaved a sigh once more. “Of course she is.” She mumbled. “SAM, relay to Suvi to meet me here stat.”

The next ten minutes slugged by with a dreary state of trepidation for Lexi. She filtered out ways to tell Suvi the bad news; she wasn’t concerned with telling Suvi that Sara was awake. It was telling Suvi that her fiancée was awake, but didn’t know who she was. 

The physician paced outside of the doorway to the medbay in deep thought. Her mind was interrupted by the rush of footsteps racing up to her.

“I’m here, what’s going on? Is she awake?” Suvi’s eyes were wide as a hungry lion’s mouth. Her heart fluttered in sixty different ways and her palms were like faucets. Her mind yelled at her for the brief second Lexi held back. Her own brain screamed for not having any information. For all she knew, Sara could be dead.

Lexi decided to quickly give rest to Suvi’s thoughts and rip off the band-aid. “Sara  _ is  _ awake.” She confirmed with a nervous smile. 

Before she could continue with her report, she was interjected by Suvi rushing towards the door. “Suvi, wait. You can’t go in there!” Lexi grabbed Suvi by the wrist in an attempt to stop her from seeing the extent of the damage.

Doctor Anwar glared at Lexi’s hand on her wrist and sharply pulled away. “Why the hell not?”

A sigh rolled from between Lexi's lips for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. “Suvi, there’s more about Sara’s condition.” Doctor T’Perro felt a flutter in her stomach growing into a knot. Her legs were noodles and her stomach turned over itself several times as she worked up the courage to break the news. It was much more challenging since she had an everlasting bond with both women.

The redhead’s face grew somber at the mention of more news. Considering Suvi was being kept out of the room, it told her this wasn’t any news worth celebrating. “What’s going on?”

The physician adopted the same grave expression as Suvi and held onto her hand. “Sara cannot remember anything since our arrival in Andromeda.”

It was just one sentence, but it hit Suvi like lead. Her first thought was feeling as if she were in a cartoon where an anvil falls from the sky onto the character. She felt the news slam directly into her and it took her breath away.

Lexi continued on with the report while she still had the courage. “She thinks the year is still 2185. She doesn’t know anyone or anything that has taken place after cryo.” She felt Suvi’s hand tense up and her face become detached. “If you went in there, Suvi, she wouldn’t know who you are.”

Doctor Anwar felt betrayed to her very core. She didn’t know by whom or for what, but it was the only feeling she could name in the heap of emotions that swarmed her. Perhaps she was angry at Sara. It was always Ryder’s job and sworn duty to always come back to her in one piece, and her memory counts as a highly valuable piece.

The Scot looked to the asari with glassy eyes and tried to spit out anything. Every question burned in the back of her throat and became glued to her tongue. She fought furiously to keep unwanted tears held back and she focused her attention on speaking; just saying  _ something _ . “Can… Do you think I can just step in and look at her?”

Suvi saw the hesitation in the Doctor’s eyes and begin to reject the idea. Before Lexi could turn it down, Suvi quickly piped up once more. “Can I just see her with her eyes open for a moment? I just want to see her awake, please.” Tears started to spill over and fall down Suvi’s cheeks as she beseeched Lexi for a chance. “I’m asking you as my friend, Lexi, not my Doctor. I have not seen my fiancée’s eyes in almost two weeks. Please let me.”

Doctor T’Perro was certainly against the thought, but she couldn’t imagine the pain her friend was going through. “Fine, but I have two conditions.” She added.

“What are they? I’ll follow them.” Suvi sniffed. Her face picked back up at the chance of seeing Sara. 

“One, you stay with me at all times. We are not going anywhere near her, we will see her from a distance. Two, you do not speak. If you have a question, you whisper it to me and I will answer it when I am sure we are not heard. And a bonus condition; if she looks in our direction, look away. She doesn’t need to be confused by a stranger staring at her and crying. Do you hear me?” Lexi asserted her demands forwardly, and made sure she would be obeyed before opening the door.

Once Suvi confirmed she would behave and follow Lexi’s orders, the medbay doors opened, introducing Suvi to the recovery unit. After searching for a thorough three seconds, Suvi looked to Lexi so she could be pointed in Sara’s direction.

Lexi tilted her head over to where Sara was lying. Suvi frantically ran her eyes in the direction Lexi pointed to and saw Ryder speaking with Harry.

The feeling of seeing Sara and being unable to talk to her left Suvi a sensation as if her heart was being squeezed. There was no way to grieve properly when the one you love is alive but does not know you.

Suvi covered her mouth in a feeling between shock, fear, and disbelief. She would do anything to shake this nightmare if only she were asleep. The redhead turned around to face Lexi to indicate she had a question. “Is it permanent?” She whispered.

The physician crossed her arms and tilted her lips. “Truth is, we don’t know. It could be reversible, so we have hope. It seems Harry, SAM and I have a long night ahead of us. Maybe SAM can give us some answers, considering it knows more about Sara than any of us.”

Hope. There was that ugly word again tickling at Suvi’s ears. She didn’t want just hope; she wanted answers.

“You should go home, Suvi.” Lexi suggested. “You’re not doing yourself any favors by sitting here torturing yourself, and I need to get to work if I’m to help Sara.”

_’Home?’_ Suvi thought to herself and grimaced at the idea of returning to the ship without her true love. Sara was home to to Suvi.

Suvi’s mind wandered as the soles of her feet drug against the floor, tears daring to spill over. Knowing sleep was impractical at this point, she made her way to the galley for a glass of water.

“Suvi?” Cora stood up at the entrance of the scientist and questioned her. “What’re you doing in here?”

“I just got back from the medbay.” The redhead dryly replied.

The lieutenant furrowed her brows. “This late? It’s like three in the morning.”

“Lexi told me to.” Suvi stated as she sat down. Her voice dry and raspy, as all of her emotion had flooded her.

Cora snapped her focus right back to Suvi. “Lexi told you to? Why?” After no response from a detached Doctor Anwar, Cora placed her hand on suvi’s shoulder. “Suvi, what happened?”

Suvi had been fighting tears and meltdowns all week. Finally, after some sort of twisted update, her entire body was exhausted and was beginning to shut down. “She’s awake now.”

“ _ What _ ?”

The redhead finally shown glossy eyes to Harper as she started to push back tears once again. “She can’t remember anything, Cora.” She sniffed into her statement.

The commando’s heart twisted around itself and skipped a beat. Her face contorted into frightened confusion as she fell speechless. “I don’t.. What do you mean?”

“She thinks the year is 2185. She doesn’t remember anything after cryo.” Suvi bawled. 

Cora wrapped Suvi in a hug as she tried to wrap her mind around the news.

“She doesn’t remember me!” The redhead muffled into the commando’s shoulder.

Harper had been having trouble sleeping since Sara had been shot. The constant drag of worry had clawed at her mind as she tried to sleep. After she decided sleep was impossible, she decided to have her own peace over a glass of water. In doing so, she never realized what she would run into.

“Alright, SAM. Tell us a full report; anything we need to know.” Lexi ordered the AI’s full assistance as she and Harry sat at the desk in the medbay. Luckily, most patients were sleeping at such an hour, allowing the doctors to focus solely one the most important patient of the evening.

“Sara’s brain is actively healing itself after the trauma from surgery and the gunshot wound. I am assisting in helping the small amount of bleeding to stop. Due to the slight raise in pressure, and the location of the trauma, this is tampering with Sara’s short term memory.” SAM reported.

Hearing what the AI had to offer, Harry took a small sip of his coffee and quickly tried to reaffirm what SAM was saying. “So it’s reversible?”

“Sara’s short term memory is viable if the bleeding stops on its own.” The AI confirmed.

“And you’re helping to resolve the bleeding, right?” Lexi repeated.

SAM’s monotone reply rang in. “Yes, Doctor T’Perro.”

Harry and Lexi exchanged hopeful looks with each other as they both grabbed their datapads and began taking notes. SAM seemed to have more abilities to offer than they first realized, and both physicians could learn a great deal from the AI. The small hours of the morning grew larger and the sips of coffee became more frequent at the two doctors frantically worked with SAM to save Sara’s memory.

 

 

 


	4. Fragments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexi begins a project to help with Sara’s memory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I appreciate your patience with me and the story. It seems to have taken on a mind of its own- making it last much longer than intended. More coming soon! Thanks for reading; I hope I’m able to keep it interesting enough.

“I know what you need.” PeeBee speculated.

Cora sat on one side of Suvi, rubbing her back and giving Suvi her best shot at consoling her. Even hearing the sound of PeeBee’s voice irritated her. She made prayer after wish after request that the asari would just leave the room. Cora felt a fraction of this debacle was PeeBee’s fault anyways.

“What?” Suvi groaned behind the hands that covered her face. She felt hesitant to take any advice from the equivalent of a child.

“You need to get piss-drunk and just forget about everything.” PeeBee grinned. She knew she had found the master solution. Was it simply an excuse to see the Doctor drunk? Perhaps. Though, PeeBee figured it would do them all some good to forget about their problems for a while.

Gil chimed in from the other side of the redhead to speak on Suvi’s behalf. “I don’t think that’s necess-”

“I’m in.” Suvi announced in a monotone voice.

“Seriously?” PeeBee and Cora both spoke in unison with two completely different tones.

“Maybe it will help, maybe it won’t.” Suvi stated. “But I do know things can’t get much worse, so why the hell not?”

PeeBee flashed a pearly smile to the two doubters around the table and stood up. “That settles it, then. We’re getting blackout drunk tonight.”

Drack marched in the galley almost as if on cue. “Did somebody say ‘drunk’?”

“What of it, old man?” Gil teased as he watched the krogan prepare lunch.

“Not just drunk,” PeeBee explained, ignoring Gil’s humor. “ _ Blackout  _ drunk.”

Drack turned to face the small group that sat at the table. “What’s the occasion?”

Suvi watched the jokes and smalltalk float around her and wondered what it was like. It had only been ten days, but it seemed as if it had been a year since Suvi can remember smiling. How can everyone be so nonchalant and blasé about their Pathfinder not recalling a thing since their arrival? Sara was sitting in a medical bed on the Nexus, confused and alone and everyone on the Tempest was planning a party. Suvi began to wonder if these people that called Sara a friend are truly her friends.

Cora felt equally irritated as Suvi. She stood up and grabbed PeeBee by the arm and pulled her to the side. “How could you possibly plan a party at a time like this?” She growled. First, it was the fact that some of this situation was PeeBee’s responsibility. Then it didn’t help matters that PeeBee hadn’t shown any sort of remorse or sorrow over this fiasco. The commando had had enough of PeeBee’s ‘plans’ and she counted down the minutes until she lost her cool.

“I’m not planning a  _ party,  _ Cora.” PeeBee snapped with a surprising seriousness. “If you think this is a celebration, or a time to let loose, it’s not. I know you think I’m responsible for this. Maybe I am, maybe I’m not. But either way, I feel that weight. Don’t you think I feel bad enough?” PeeBee huffed in frustration. “I don’t know what you  _ asari huntresses  _ would do, but I know if I get drunk enough tonight, then this weight will be lifted for just a moment.” PeeBee recollected possession of her arm and stormed out of the galley.

It took a moment for Cora to understand PeeBee’s point of view, or how she may have felt in the midst of such chaos. But Cora realized not everybody functions the same way she does. She noticed everyone on her team was on Sara’s team, and they were all hurting in their own way, even if it had barely been noticeable. Gil hadn’t cracked nearly as many jokes, Drack’s cooking had been off and he hadn’t picked any fights, even PeeBee had been sleeping longer than usual. Everyone dealt with grief in their own way, and Cora was just now seeing it.

The moment PeeBee charged out of the kitchen, everyone’s Omni-tool lit up with a message from the ship’s physician. 

“Dear Tempest team, Harry, SAM and I have been working diligently the past two nights to get some answers about Sara. Anyone who is interested in an update on the Pathfinder meet me in the conference room on the Tempest in 10.” Gil read the message aloud to save everyone the trouble of opening it.

Suvi looked to Gil optimistically. “Does that sound like good news to you?”

“Maybe.” Gil replied. “But it definitely sounds like she has answers.”

Cora’s heart sped up. She had not had an update from Lexi since the night before. In reality, twelve hours didn’t seem like a long time without a report, but with suspense gnawing at her at all hours of the day, she was ready to hear some good news.

It didn’t take long for the team to get the message. All members that were staying on the Tempest piled into the conference room, patiently awaiting the Doctor’s arrival. This included everyone but Liam and Jaal who were both taking advantage of their shore leave and staying busy.

As Lexi entered the room, the air shifted from tense to eerie. “I’m glad all of you who could be here  _ are. _ ” Lexi stated as she set down two datapads and a cup of coffee. “I’m running on two hours of sleep from the past two days, so bear with me.”

Nobody in the room dared to make a sound as they waited for the asari to get on with Sara’s health report. Cora and Vetra grew anxious and started to fidget around, and Scott held on to his mother’s hand.

“As you know, Sara was comatose for seven days, and she has been awake for three. For the past three days, Harry and I have had some help from SAM to do some delicate studying on Sara and her memory. Needless to say, Sara’s glad I’ve left her alone for now.” Doctor T’Perro chuckled.

Lexi pulled up a medical briefing on her datapad and read a summary from it. “SAM had helped us discover that Sara had some minor bleeding in her brai-”

“ _ Had _ ?” Scott interrupted the physician to find some clarity. “As in she doesn’t anymore, is that what you’re saying?”

Harper sighed and planted her hand over her face. “Please just let the doctor talk.”

A moment of intense silence ticked by before Lexi picked up where she left off. “The frontal lobe of the brain is what stores part of your short-term memory. Unfortunately, this is where Sara was shot. Due to the bleeding and swelling from the gunshot wound  _ and  _ surgery, it had caused some memory loss.  _ But,  _ SAM was able to heal the wound and stop the bleeding, leaving us hopeful that Sara can regain her memory.”

“What are the chances she’ll regain her memory?” Ellen Ryder was aware it was a risky question, and perhaps the truth would be more frightening than just waiting to see, but she needed to know.

All eyes of the room spread wide open and planted on Ellen, then shifted directly to Lexi for answers. “Do you want scientific statistics, or my opinion?”

“Both.” Ellen replied.

“In my opinion, Sara has a high chance to regain her memory. I’ve watched her for three days now and she’s doing surprisingly well.” The asari put her opinion forward and hesitantly continued to answer Ellen’s question in whole. “SAM, what are Sara’s chances she will regain her memory?”

“Based off of current health, Sara has a 78 percent chance she will restore all of her short term memory.” SAM answered.

Lexi quickly jumped in to add assurance. “That’s based off of statistics as well, though. That’s based off of cases from the past, not Sara’s chances alone.” 

“So we’re looking at good chances.” Kallo reaffirmed.

“Yes. In fact, since Sara’s brain has healed itself, I’d like to go ahead and start some exercises that might speed up the process.” The asari suggested.

“What kind of exercises?” Gil asked with his arm wrapped around suvi’s shoulders.

“Currently, Sara thinks the year is 2185. Based off of this information, Sara should technically remember Cora, Scott and Ellen.” Lexi informed. “I need to prove this theory true before moving on. Once she’s comfortable and stable with her memory, we introduce her to people on the team. If all goes well, her memory will come back in fragments. Something will seem familiar to her yet she wouldn’t be able to recall the full memory at first.”

PeeBee spoke up for the first time since the meeting with a broad curiosity. “And that’s supposed to help? That honestly sounds like that would just make her mad.” 

“There’s no doubt this is going to be a frustrating process.” Lexi acknowledged. “Not just for Sara, but for all of us involved. I know we are all going through unimaginable pain, but we have to stay strong for our Pathfinder, just as she has been strong for all of us. She will be angry, tired and upset, but we must not give up.”

“When can we start?” Scott inquired, eager to help his sister.

“Right now, if you all are ready.” The Doctor advised.

Outside the medical unit, Lexi stood with Scott, Cora and Ellen to give them the rundown of how her plan would go. “Scott, she’s going to want to see you first. We’ll send you in to test her memory and make sure she knows and remembers everything about you and such. If that succeeds, we send in Cora, do the same thing, then eventually introduce Ellen.

Doctor Ryder spoke her piece to get answers from the physician. “Sure, perhaps she would be able to remember me, but wouldn’t she be confused? Last we spoke was her saying her goodbyes to me and  _ that  _ was before cryo.”

Lexi understood where Ellen was coming from, and truly followed her concerns. It wasn’t her desire to confuse her most important patient, but she had a plan. “I understand what you’re saying, but with your appearance, we can at least get an idea of where her memory ‘leaves off’ so to speak.” Doctor T’Perro explained. “We need to collect he latest memories with each of you.”

Scott, Cora and Ellen all looked slightly skeptical of the plan, which Lexi accepted. Each of the three were rightfully nervous, but it was Lexi’s job to illustrate the importance of this project. “I know it seems a bit harsh on her, but we need to remember that Sara knows what’s going on to a certain extent. She knows her memory is not what it needs to be and that we need to work on it. I have consent from her saying she’s willing to work with us.”

The three volunteers exchanged looks between each of them and all nodded. “If it’s for Sara, I’ll do it all.” Scott confirmed.

Sara lied back in her bed, enjoying the silence Lexi left her with. With her eyes shut, she indulged in the much needed rest, though she couldn’t shake the nervous feeling she’d had since she had woken up.

Ryder learned a lot about herself in two short days. She was the Pathfinder, her father had died and she was practically a renowned hero. Without having remembered any of it, she grew anxious to find out if she ever would. If she was as important as her Doctor said she was, she would need her memory.

“Sara?” The deepened voice which unmistakably was her brother’s had awoken Sara from her rest.

“Scott?” The blonde beamed with elation as her brother approached her bedside. She wrapped her arms around Scott’s neck, thankful to see a familiar face.

“Did you hear I have a shit memory?” She chuckled in attempt to make a joke out of any harsh situation she could.

“Everyone heard,” Scott replied half-jokingly. He wanted to continue to make light of the situation as his sister always did. “It’s pretty embarrassing, really.” He snickered.

Through the fifteen minutes Sara and Scott shared, Scott gathered his sister’s latest memory. Both of them saying their goodbyes to each other and betting who would wake up first. Competing was her last memory with Scott.

Cora garnered the same information; Sara’s latest memory being their last conversation before stepping into cryo. It made Lexi wonder what Ryder’s reaction would be to seeing her mother.

Ellen hesitantly stepped through the doors to meet her daughter for what felt like the first time since Andromeda. Her heart drummed against her chest as she thought about Sara’s reaction. She could only pray that Sara remembered her revival.

Sara’s eyes met with Ellen’s and widened. “Mom?” Her face fell in utter perplexity, wondering how this happened. “You- you’re here.” Sara stated the truth aloud just to allow it to sink in.

“I’m here, my darling girl.” Ellen simpered through tears that tried to break loose. She pushed them back and absorbed the moment with her daughter, silently praying she will return to how she once was.

Lexi went in to collect the information she needed regarding Sara’s memory. She sat with Sara alone for the first time since seeing her brother, Mother and best friend.

“How do you feel?” Lexi asked, hoping Sara wasn’t already frustrated. There was a long road ahead and Sara needed to remain calm.

“Tired but- well, I’m better now after seeing them.” Ryder admitted. “Thank you for letting me.”

“You know it’s more than just a visit, Ryder.” Lexi shared. She required Sara to be on top of her game at all times if she were to get her memory back.

“I know. All business, I get it. But still.” Sara said with a weak smile.

Doctor T’Perro returned the smile, seeing as Sara was in a decent mood. “Now, did anything come back to you? Any recollection or anything out of the ordinary at all?” Lexi had a full-on interrogation ready with her datapad in hand.

“No, not really.” Sara clarified. “Though, there  _ is  _ this really  _ really  _ faint memory of hearing my mom was in cryo and something about it being a big deal, and you had to work with people to save her life, or  _ something _ ? Am I close?” Ryder had a difficult time putting the pieces together and the memories were fuzzy, but they were there.

Lexi’s face froze in a trance-like expression. To hear Sara already had a small piece to the puzzle was such relieving news, Lexi didn’t quite know how to respond. “Yes, Sara, you’re right! You’re along the right lines and that’s wonderful news to hear you remember that.” 

“So, what exactly happened with my mom?” Ryder inquired.

The asari’s face fell back down to its previous state to deliver an unfortunate response. “I can’t simply  _ tell  _ you these things. You have to remember them on your own, that’s part of the exercise.”

“You can’t tell me?” Sara snapped, raising her voice just enough to be noticeable. “Do you really expect me to remember  _ all  _ of this shit on my own? You told me you and I had a lot of ups and downs and conversations and good times, but I don’t remember  _ any  _ of that. You really think I’m going to?”

“I’m sorry, Sara, believe me when I say that. But in time, yes, I think you will.” The physician responded with a genuine tone. “I know it has to be rough, but if you want to get back to where you are, you have to push harder than you ever have.”

Ryder puzzled to herself, understanding Lexi’s meaning. “What if I’m a really good girl, will you tell me then?” Sara smirked.

Doctor T’Perro giggled at Sara’s demeanor. “It’s nice to see you’re still the same goofy, pain-in-my-Ass, Ryder. It’s a good sign.” Lexi stood up to make her exit for the evening and gave a final piece of advice to Ryder. “Rest up well, Pathfinder. Tomorrow starts the real challenge.”

 

 

 


	5. One To Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara begins working to restore her memory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Kudos and comments are always more than appreciated. You guys are awesome.

The weight of Sara’s eyelids were those of bowling balls. Her mouth was dry and her body was weak. With Scott hanging over her to wake her up, Sara begged for more rest, knowing she didn’t sleep well through the night.

“Lexi wants you awake. We’re moving you to the Tempest now.” Scott informed as he pushed a cup of coffee in his sister’s direction.

Ryder immediately snatched the coffee from her brother and took a sip. “Where?”

Cora shuffled over with her own coffee in hand and helped Ryder out of bed. “The Tempest, it’s our ship.” She mentioned. “It’s home.”

The reality of the situation was a punch to the gut for Cora. Harper and Sara had always been friends since Sara was 18, however, most of their friendship and close ties came from the events they faced together in Andromeda. Their terror, fear, laughs and cries through the initiative is what made the two women closer than ever before. Knowing one half of the duo couldn’t remember any of it was nauseating.

Ryder slid out of bed in the slowest of ways. Her bones felt as if they would snap and her muscles felt useless. Fatigue wasn’t an accurate description for what Sara was feeling, it was far beyond fatigue. She hissed through her teeth as she sat down in the wheelchair. “Why is it so fuckin’ hard to move?” 

“Because you had brain surgery and your body is still adjusting.” Lexi answered as if she popped up out of nowhere. “That will go away with time and physical therapy.” 

Cora felt a concern rise within her at the mention of time. Time was a factor in Andromeda, and Andromeda needed their Pathfinder; there wasn’t much time to spare. “How much time?”

“A couple of weeks should clear up most of the aches. Any fatigue and atrophy will slowly fade over the course of about six to eight weeks.” The physician concluded. 

Lexi glanced at Sara and offered a gentle smile. “We’re ready when you are, Ryder.”

Ryder wasn’t completely sure what she was supposed to be ready for, but she suspected there was nothing left to do in preparation. As Scott stood behind her and pushed her chair around, she grew more anxious the closer they got.

The tram doors to the docking bay hissed open. Cora and Lexi exited first with Scott and Sara trailing behind. “Oh wow.” Cora groaned.

The entire upper level of the docking bay was crowded with people hanging over the balcony to spot their recovering Pathfinder. The moment that the tram doors opened, several journalists and paparazzi swarmed the four of them and began to take pictures and shout questions.

Scott quickly grew irritated with the crowd and shouted to Lexi. “Take over here while I clear us a path!”

Scott and Lexi traded places, leading the asari to push the Pathfinder’s wheelchair. Sara’s brother took charge up front with Cora and pushed any unwanted reporters out of the way.

Ryder felt an enormous wave of confidence sweep over her. The fact that the people of the Initiative crowded on the docking bay to cheer for her return was encouraging. It took a decent size assembly and bit of enthusiasm for Ryder to realize how big of a deal she was in Andromeda. The common people were  _ her  _ people. These were the folks that made her what she was- a hero.

Lexi wheeled Sara up the ramp behind Cora and Scott. The second Sara was introduced to the cargo bay, her lips parted in astonishment. Ryder’s Eyes strolled around the room and drank up every bit of familiarity she could. “This definitely feels familiar.”

Cora twisted her brow and looked to Lexi to gather meaning. “How can she remember some things, but not others?”

“Sara associates memories with objects and people and places, etcetera. It’s like smelling an aroma from your childhood and it helps you recall a memory from years ago.” Lexi explained. “Her memory of one person or place depends on the importance. I’ll show you, just help me get her to the medbay.”

“ _ Show  _ you?” Ryder questioned with concern. “Show her how?”

“Stop being a little bitch and let the grown-ups work, Sara.” Scott chimed in from the front of the group.

Sara twisted her face and scoffed. “You’re like, five, so hush.”

Lexi pushed Sara into the medbay and gathered her supplies while Scott and Cora helped her into bed.

“Why do you have a mirror?” Cora cautiously questioned.

Doctor T’Perro skipped over Cora’s question and went straight into the demonstration. She handed the hand mirror to Ryder and instructed her to look at her reflection. “Do you notice anything different about your face?” Lexi asked.

Sara furrowed her brow and studied over her reflection. “That scar.”

The physician continued with her questionnaire. “And do you remember how you got that scar?” 

Ryder thoroughly examined her face in the mirror and thought about it for a few seconds before answering. “I remember… I remember a lot of pain. And being cold.”

Lexi looked to the lieutenant to prove her theory true. 

“Yeah, I remember. Yeah, someone burned me with a metal rod of some sort.” Sara sucked her teeth and shoved the mirror back in the doctor’s direction.

Lexi suddenly shot out of her seat and flashed a tight-lipped smile. “This is how it happens. It comes in pieces and it’s blurry, but the memories come back.” She assured.

Boosted by the confidence Sara gave her, Lexi sent Scott to follow out certain instructions. “Scott, I need you to hunt someone down and bring them here.”

“You’re not speaking of the Doctor are you?” Scott kept his voice low to make sure his sister couldn’t hear the conversation.

“A certain redheaded Doctor? I certainly am.” Lexi replied with a particular cheerfulness Scott had yet to see.

The young man silently thought to himself for a moment before protesting against Lexi’s wishes. “If Sara doesn’t remember her, Suvi won’t be able to handle that.”

“Yes she can.” Lexi countered. “Suvi knows that Sara is having troubles with her memory. She also knows Sara is working to regain it back.” Lexi rested a hand on Scott’s shoulder. “Go fetch Suvi. Bring her here.”

Scott went out to do as he was bid and went to hunt down Suvi. “SAM, where can I find Suvi?” 

“Doctor Anwar is currently with Gil in the control room.” SAM replied.

Scott marched through the ship and sure enough found Doctor Anwar exactly where SAM had promised. 

Suvi was curled up in a blanket on a chair in Brodie’s quarters while Gil was making minor adjustments to the ODSY drive to bide his time. 

The moment the youngest Ryder twin walked through the doors, Brodie held up his hand. “She  _ just  _ got to sleep. This is the first rest she’s had in a while, is it important?”

Scott displayed sympathetic eyes to Gil and spoke in a genuine tone. “It’s important.” He nodded.

Gil sighed and gestured for Scott to go ahead and wake up the scientist. 

Scott knelt down in front of Suvi’s chair and rested his hand on her knee. It pained him to not only wake her up, but to know what she would likely be going through in a few, short minutes. “Suvi?”

The redhead slightly stretched and groaned at the feeling of waking up to such harsh reality. “Scott?”

The blonde stood up and outreached a hand for Suvi to take a hold of. “You’re being summoned.”

Suvi quickly snapped out of her drowsiness and stood up. With her heart in her throat, she twisted her hands together. “By whom? What’s going on?”

Scott took the Doctor by the hands and gently shared the news. “Lexi thinks it’s time to introduce you to Sara and test her memory.”

Suvi rolled her eyes along the floor as her thoughts rattled around in her mind. The anxiety flooded Suvi’s face, and Scott could see it.

“Suvi, Sara is really struggling with her memory, so I don’t want you to have high expectations. I want you to be prepared.” He trusted Lexi and her professional opinion, however, he also knew how fragile Suvi was. If Sara said something wrong, or couldn’t recall a single detail about her own fiancée, it would tear Suvi apart.

With Cora sitting beside her, Sara could see Lexi through the window congregating with Scott and what seemed to be a smaller, redheaded woman. She couldn’t make out what was being said, but something did catch her eye. “That redhead…”

The commando arched a brow as Sara sorted through her thoughts. “She look familiar?”

“Not really.” Sara replied with her eyes glued on the scientist. “I know I don’t really chase after women, it’s not my thing, but  _ damn  _ she’s pretty.”

A fragile yet genuine smile crossed Cora’s face. It tickled the lieutenant to know that even with her memory wiped, Sara still had eyes for Suvi. “Just wait til you hear her talk.”

Ryder pressed her eyebrows together in perplexity, wondering how the redhead’s voice would make things different. Her eyes continued to track the young woman as she entered the door with Scott and Doctor T’Perro.

Suvi’s eyes were red, unknowing if it were from exhaustion or heartache, but she kept them on her fiancée for the duration of Lexi’s speech,

“Sara, I can’t give you her name, but do you know who this is?” Lexi asked while gesturing for Suvi to scoot closer. “She’s part of your team.”

Ryder stared at the scot much longer than the polite glance. Her eyes raked over the length of Suvi’s body and back to her face.

“Hello.” Suvi’s voice was hoarse and barely audible. She watched as Sara moved her eyes over her body as she always had.

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember.” Ryder grumbled and looked to Cora, embarrassed.

“That’s okay.” Lexi assured. “You will with time.” The doctor pulled Suvi aside and mumbled something in her ear.

Ryder watched the asari and redhead whisper concerns and affirmations to each other. Something about the redhead was not familiar, but perhaps analeptic. Sara felt almost as if the young woman’s presence was almost common and intimate, and it made Sara feel safe and calm.

“Okay, you two.” Lexi interrupted Ryder’s thoughts and addressed Cora and Scott. “Let’s give these two some time alone. Perhaps once Sara is with her long enough, it will jog her memory.”

Lexi and the two visitors scurried out of the medbay and left behind a timid Ryder and a nervous Suvi.

Ryder nervously shifted her eyes around in avoidance of the scientist, while Suvi pulled up a chair. “So uh- what’s your name?”

“I’m not allowed to tell you that.” Suvi quickly replied. Her heart felt as if it were mad at her and it was trying to get revenge by beating at an irrational pace. “You’re supposed to eventually remember it, or so Lexi says.” Suvi’s voice became a faint whisper as she wrapped up her sentence.

Sara curled in her eyebrow, beginning to feel the slightest bit irritated with her situation. “Well there must be  _ something  _ you can tell me. Who are you?”

Doctor Anwar figited uncomfortably in her seat and searched for something to say. “Well, I  _ am  _ your science officer.”

The Pathfinder scoffed at the closed-off answers and rolled her eyes. “On a scale from one to ten, how well do you know me? How close are we?”

Without hesitation, Suvi blurted the highest number. “Ten.”

Sara felt her face contort in shock. Her heart sank as she began to feel a bit angry at herself. “Wow. I am so sorry.” The remorse Ryder had was unspeakable. There were people- real people- that had counted on her, that loved and trusted her, that knew her at a ten on a rating scale, and she couldn’t remember any of them.

“What’re you apologizing for, Sara?” Suvi’s brow pressed together in a misunderstanding. 

“This must be agonizing for you.” The blonde shared. “Apparently you know me really well, and I have no memory of you. I’m sorry.”

The truth that spilled from Sara’s lips gave a beating to Suvi. She felt the tears sneak up on her as she silently willed them away before she spoke. “That’s not something you’re capable of changing, Sara. This isn’t your fault, and we are fixing the problem.”

“Still, though.” Sara backtracked on her explanation. “The fact that it isn’t my fault doesn’t make it any easier on you. I can’t imagine that pain. Thank you for being patient with me.”

The scientist exhaled through a broken tear and chuckled to hide the pain she was experiencing. “Of course.”

“Tell me something about you. Help me out a little.” Ryder requested. She didn’t quite understand how the whole ‘Memory Restoration’ worked, however, she was willing to try it all. “Any kind of memory we have that won’t give away the whole picture?”

Suvi wrestled with her own memory, trying to recall a simple, friendly interaction with her fiancée, but her thoughts betrayed her. Every memory she had with Sara was on the broad end of the spectrum, one side of the other. She never shared a neutral moment with Sara. There were moments that involved heartbreak, like the choking, and Suvi was determined to steer clear of that. Others involved intense, romantic and intimate times with her that would give away their relationship.

After remaining silent for sometime, Suvi recalled the perfect memory. “A while back, we received the news that your Mother was, in fact, alive and in cryo. The moment I heard, I assembled a small team of doctors to help me come up with a cure for AEND. After a month, we perfected it and we successfully revived your Mother.”

“So that’s what happened.” Sara puzzled with a long pause of concentration. “Why would you do something like that for me?”

“As I’ve said before, you’re important to me.” Suvi repeated. “I know you at a ten.” Some crumpled form of a smile crawled upon her face and looked to Sara.

The next morning, Ryder woke up to the voices she had heard the evening before. She rolled on her side and opened her eyes just enough to see the bodies of the voices. 

Suvi and Lexi were once again chatting about none other than Ryder and her situation. While Lexi was promising a smooth recovery, it was Suvi’s job to second guess all the information the physician offered.

Ryder watched the two absently talk at each other for several minutes until Sara noticed something in particular about Suvi’s hand that stood out to her.

“Good morning, Pathfinder.” Lexi chirped. “I was beginning to wonder if you’d ever wake up.”

Suvi turned around to meet the blue eyes of the Pathfinder and slanted a defeated smile. “I suppose that’s my cue.” She sighed. “Come find me later.”

“Wait!” Ryder called out to the redhead just before Suvi was able to make her exit. “Can- can I see your ring?” Sara hesitated in her request, though she knew Suvi’s ring looked familiar.

Doctor Anwar looked to Lexi for permission to show Sara the ring. With a nod of approval, Suvi shuffled over to the blonde, slipped off her ring and into the hand of her unaware fiancée.

The moment Suvi leaned close enough to lend her ring, Sara caught a glimpse of Suvi up close. She reared back in apprehension. The soft features of Suvi’s face, the way she smelled, the way she moved. Something about her suddenly seemed overwhelmingly familiar to Sara.

The scot saw the look on Sara’s face. Whatever it meant remained unknown to Suvi, though it made her wary and hopeful. 

Ryder took the ring in her hand after studying over Suvi’s face. She pinched the band with her index and thumb and inspected the ring silently before sharing her thoughts.

“I’ve seen this ring before, I know.” She mumbled to herself.

Suvi darted a curious and hopeful look to the physician who reciprocated the expression with a raised eyebrow.

“Like… I  _ know  _ there’s just something about this ring. I remember holding it for a long time and I felt really excited about it, I showed it off to everyone.” Sara sighed and twisted her face in a cocktail of frustration, concentration and purpose.

“But- Wait. It’s not mine, right? Why would you be wearing it if it were mine?” The blonde refocused on Suvi and collected her answer.

“No, it’s- it’s mine.” Suvi replied in a weakened state.

Ryder scoffed, still eager to solve the mystery of this ring. The picture in her head was so clear; she felt much more thrilled than socially acceptable- all over one ring. She just needed to know why.

Sara tied her eyes to Suvi’s and buried her focus. Her mind was working overtime already at such an early hour of the day. Her thoughts and theories waltzed around and caused a commotion in her mind as she tried to think. “Did I give this ring to you?” She asked slowly.

Before Suvi could answer, Ryder’s face snapped once again as she continued to piece the answers together. With her eyes embedded into Suvi’s she saw the redhead desperately fight away tears.

“We’re engaged.” Ryder stated quietly and watched the scientist quickly bob her head up and down while wiping tears away. “Suvi?”

Suvi wrapped her arms around the neck of her Pathfinder and thanked God for returning her fiancée to her. “It’s me, Sara, yes, it’s me.”

Ryder never tried to hold tears back as it was useless. She was not only proud of herself for succeeding in remembering her fiancée, but she was elated that she had Suvi as her fiancée. “I fuckin’ knew you were mine.” She pulled away from the grasp of the scot and looked her dead in the eye. “I’m sorry I caused you so much agony. I love you.”

“I love you, Sara Ryder.”

  
  
  



	6. The Market

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Sara continues to heal, Scott and Suvi head out on a mission of their own. Scott and Cora plan to seek revenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writer’s block has been visiting lately, but I did the best I could with the time I had. Thanks for reading/commenting! I hope you all enjoy as the story continues.

It was the same bedroom Sara slept in- even without her before they were an item. The same space where she changed clothes, where she spent downtime, where Sara reeled in her most intimate and passionate moments with her. This is the same room in which Sara will continue to do all of these things, all thanks to Lexi, Harry and SAM.

Suvi didn’t quite know what to do with the room since Ellen had been sleeping there for the past two weeks. Suvi couldn’t bear to sleep in the Pathfinder’s quarters without the Pathfinder, so she handed off the room to Ellen in order to keep her close to her daughter. Now that Sara is alive and well, all with her memory, Ellen was off to continue her work, and Suvi was free to stay in her own room.

The beaming lights of  Aya’s morning flooded the Pathfinder’s quarters and cradled Suvi’s face. It gave a bilious sense to the redhead not waking up to her lover, though now she knew with time and progress, Sara would return to her bed just as her memory was returning to her.

Her muscles stretched and her eyes languidly gapped open to the morning light. Thankfully the galley was a short fifteen steps away, leading her to her morning brew. Suvi regretfully passed on her usual brew of tea and decided to go for something with copious amounts of caffeine to keep her alert for the day.

“Are you going to be ready soon?” Suvi cropped her eyes on the twin of her fiancée as he peeked his head into the galley.

The redhead yawned and downed one last sip of coffee and set it down with a frown. “I suppose I’ll be ready now if you are.” Her voice sounded as if it was fabricated with false enthusiasm. 

All Suvi wanted was sleep after she had been deprived of it for so long. However, she couldn’t deny the fact that she was looking forward to spending some time away from the stresses that swarmed the Tempest. A day with her future brother-in-law would be a decent opportunity to unwind, despite how sleepy she was.

“Don’t worry about me,” Ryder dismissed. “I have a long day of remembering ahead of me. I have to meet the whole crew and talk about how great I’ve been for the past like year and a half, two years or so.” Sara chuckled, causing her partner to do the same. “Seriously, I’ll be fine. There’s not much you can do here while we’re busy. Besides, we’re already on Aya; you might as well go ahead and let Scott bore you into a coffin today.”

Suvi exhaled a tiny chuckle while looking down at the hand that belonged to the love of her life. It smarted Suvi’s heart to leave Sara while she’s in such a state, though she knew she was right. There wasn’t much for her to do, regardless. She landed a tiny kiss onto Sara’s hand and looked back upon her exit. “I’ll be back tonight.”

“I’m counting on it.” Ryder winked while watching the redhead disappear behind the door.

Scott placed his hand on the small of Suvi’s back as they walked down the ramp into Aya’s port together. “I’m really glad you agreed to help me. I know this isn’t the ideal time, but I was kind of hoping you and I could get out of the way and have some fun while they’re busy, y’know?”

Suvi’s Eyes lingered on the man beside her as he spoke and compared him to Sara. Both twins were so covertly attentive with such rigid personas. Something about the way they spoke was similar too, and Suvi found it endearing how similar they both were.

“I completely understand. In fact, I’m glad to get away for some time.” The redhead sent an earnest smile to Scott and continued to follow him. “Now what exactly are we looking for? Do you have something particular in mind?”

The only information Suvi had was what Scott had asked her. The blonde requested Suvi’s attention for the better half of the day to go shopping. The scientist was unsure of what exactly it was for, or why it required Aya’s market, but she had an inkling about what they’d be in search of.

Scott cautiously bounced his eyes around and lowered his head to Suvi’s level, still making their way to the market. “You have to promise to not to tell Sara.”

Suvi returned the wary glance to Scott and slowed her pace with a drawn-out answer. “Okay.”

The younger man halted his mission for the market and lowered his voice. “I plan on proposing to Cora.”

“ _ What _ ?” The redhead’s eyes expanded and her hands folded over her mouth.

It was remarkable news. Suvi had always heard Cora planning for the future and complaining of her age and how her ‘biological clock’ was ticking; it made Suvi feel uneasy considering they were both twenty-five.

“Sshh! Let’s not make this bigger than it needs to be- yet.” Scott replied, beginning to pick the pace back up.

“Well this is pretty mammoth, Scott, don’t you think so?” 

Scott rubbed the back of his neck and pondered in his thoughts. “I don’t know, maybe. I mean, yes, it’s a big deal, but I don’t want everyone talking about it before it happens.”

Suvi understood Scott’s point and wondered how Sara had planned it. How long was she plotting the proposal? How would she have done it if not for the ceremony? How did she know it’s what Suvi wanted? So many questions tumbled through her mind and none of them mattered. All that mattered was the fact that it had happened- perfectly.

“So what you may not know, is that ever since Sara requested a diamond ring, Avela and part of her crew have opened a small business here on Aya. Now it’s new, so there’s not a large collection, but I bet we can find something worth giving.” Scott explained as they reached the market.

Suvi skimmed over the small selection of rings they had and made a mental note of each cut, karat and ring. “Is there anything in particular you think she’d like?”

“Nothing  _ too  _ big.” Scott mumbled as he browsed. “I feel like I want a platinum band and a halo round cut diamond.”

Suvi puzzled at the picture as she sorted through each ring, and moved on by process of elimination. She stood by, distracted by something Scott had mentioned earlier. “Why don’t you want Sara to know? Of all people?”

The blonde paused his search in order to give an explanation and crossed his arms. “Even with a shit memory, she and Cora are like sisters. I don’t trust Sara with something this huge. She’d tell Cora.”

Perhaps Scott was right, but Suvi wasn’t a fan of the idea of keeping something from Sara. Though, it wasn’t Suvi’s business to tell, either. 

“What about this one?” Her eyes magnetized to the ring in front of her and smiled. “Round cut, halo, platinum ring. It’s the perfect size too, look, not too big.”

Scott’s lips copied a smile much like Sara’s and set his eyes to the ring. “Ooh, it’s perfect.” He crooned. Scott matched eyes with the vendor and placed all of his credits out on the table- a willing and welcome exchange if need be. 

Once the vendor and Scott got to talking, however, Scott somehow received a discount just for knowing Jaal and Sara. Scott would have purchased the ring regardless, but it was always nice to have extra perks.

Over lunch, the two enjoyed their meal over companionable silence, both taking in the wonders and peace of Aya, before Suvi made an observation. “It’s nice here on Aya. We can actually take the air and notice the beauty of it without being bombarded with pictures and questions.”

Scott scoffed as he took a bite and glanced briefly at the redhead. “Are you truly that famous, Doctor Anwar?” His coy smile and darkened eyes gave away his blatant sarcasm.

“Nooo.” Suvi denied before correcting him. “I’m saying that  _ we  _ are famous.” She replied before taking a sip of her drink.

Doctor Anwar noted the tension in Scott’s shoulders and realized his mood had shifted notably from the last few moments. “Is something bothering you? You seem tense.”

The blonde chewed his meal a bit aggressively than necessary. “Doesn’t it bother you that Sara is working her ass off to have a normal life right now, and the bottom feeder that shot her is still roaming around the cluster?” His tone came genuine and ragged instead of the expected rage from the looks of his demeanor.

With a tilt of one eyebrow, Suvi puzzled longingly over what Scott had mentioned. He was right, and it picked at Suvi like a festered sore to know someone that tried to kill her fiancée was still lurking. “What can we expect to be done about it? How do we find someone like that?”

“Oh, nobody told you?” The blonde schemingly rubbed his hands together and suppressed the anger that tried to break loose. “PeeBee thinks it was her ex, Kalinda. Apparently there was something about an email that acts as evidence.”

Suvi crunched her face and wondered how it could be true. “Wouldn’t PeeBee say something? Wait, if it’s Kalinda, why is no action being taken right now?”

Scott set down his cup and refrained from eye contact. “Our Pathfinder, the one who takes care of these things, hasn’t given an order- as well as our second in command.” He brought his eyes to the redhead and wrinkled his nose. “I don’t think Sara knows exactly what’s going on, still.”

Suvi looked down at her plate distracted by the earlier comment. “You said something about an email?” 

The Tempest was not as frenetic as Suvi and Scott had assumed it would be. It was just like any ordinary day on the Tempest, minus Sara and whomever would be speaking with her at the time. Scott and Suvi immediately began their hunt for PeeBee in order to read this notorious email.

“ _ My dear PeeBee, _

_ As you may have heard, there is an active Architect in a valley on Voeld. There has been talk of your team coming to destroy it, and I do hope that’s not true. I have my eye on this remnant, so don’t bother trying to steal my research. If I find you or your team here, just know I gave my warning.” _

As Suvi read it aloud, she felt her face fold in curiosity. With only PeeBee and Scott in company, she didn’t hesitate to begin her speculation. “I find it odd that she outright gave a warning and all. It’s too much evidence.” The scientist swiveled in her chair to face PeeBee and pointed to the screen. “Does this sound like Kalinda? Her wording and all, does it match her style? Something she would say?”

The asari cradled her chin and pondered only momentarily. “Everything sounds less cocky, and she definitely has never called me PeeBee- she thinks it’s a stupid nickname. But it makes no sense to be anyone else, she uses rubber bullets, she has a motive, etcetera.”

The scientist in Suvi began to analyze each line, section and word. “Where can we find Kalinda?”

“I don’t know- last I heard, her whole team was a bunch of exiles and they all lived in Kadara. That’s all I know.” PeeBee was being surprisingly helpful and cooperative, especially without knowing what would happen to her friend.

Suvi turned back around to face PeeBee and tilted an eyebrow inward. “Her whole team is exiles? That could get her kicked out of the initiative, especially if she’s doing illegal work.”

“She knows.” PeeBee countered with a catch in her voice.

Scott snarled and headed for the door to lead out of Sara’s room, anxious to spread the word. “Looks like we’re headed to Kadara.”

“Wait.” PeeBee stopped the young man with a regretful call. “What are you going to do her if you catch her?”

Scott looked to Suvi before answering honestly. “Whatever the situation calls for.” He shrugged and turned on his heels to inform Sara of his mission.

“You won’t.” Sara hissed in a reply to her brother, denying him of his quest to avenge his sister’s troubles.

Scott wrinkled his nose and brow in a misunderstanding. He couldn’t figure out why Sara would say no to such a thing. “But-”

“But nothing,” Sara cut her brother’s sentence short to give her explanation. “You’re mad right now, and anger makes people stupid. If you were to kill someone, that would be murder. It would strip you of all your titles, get you banned from the initiative, and throw you in jail or possibly even put you back into cryo. I’m not having that happen because you’re angry.”

Cora sat silently beside the Pathfinder, listening to each word the twins were throwing at each other and rooting for Scott’s side. She knew what Sara was trying to say, but Cora understood her partner’s anger, and desperately wanted to put action into words and fix it.

“This woman tried to take your life.” Scott countered. “She’s still out there, knowing you’re alive; she might be plotting to kill you  _ right now!” _

“True, she might be! Let her plot, let her try. Look how well it went for her the first time. I dare this bitch to get close to me.” Ryder snarled from the medical bed, knowing that soon she’ll put an end to what Kalinda had started. “Once I’m better,  _ I  _ will go with backup- someone I know who won’t lose their mind and shoot anyone, and I will put her back into cryo my damn self. Do  _ not  _ do anything stupid.”

Scott felt a fire reach his face, courtesy of his sister’s demands. His eyes locked with Cora’s, knowing exactly what she was thinking. Perhaps it was Sara’s injury, but half the crew suffered more than she did, constantly hoping and praying for one breath after the other. Payback was due.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to JohnFromNC for the shopping idea! So much fun to write.


	7. Part 1: Returning Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara and Suvi reconnect once Sara is released from the medbay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part Two coming soon! I had to split Chapter 7 in half because I couldn’t stop writing!

Ryder had a death grip on Suvi’s hand as she heard the long anticipated words. They rolled off of Lexi’s tongue and gently through Sara’s ears. “Really?”

“It’s been a week since we’ve started Recovered-Memory Therapy. We start physical therapy in tomorrow,” Doctor T’Perro shrugged with a genuine smile. “I don’t see why not.”

Suvi flashed the whitest smile to her fiancée and kissed the surface of Sara’s hand. The thought of having Sara back in her bed where she belonged brought pure delight to Suvi’s heart. It had been so long since she had slept in the same bed as Sara, her body was beginning to ache from living without the simple knowledge of having her there.

Ryder was eager to end her chat with the doctor and walk back into her own room. “No offense, Lexi, I love you. But, it’s going to be so nice not having to see you all day every day.” She chuckled. 

Doctor T’Perro knew the feeling all too well. She loved the company of her teammates, especially Sara’s, but when a Doctor spends so much time with one person, it’s usually not for fun. 

As Sara shifted to sit on the edge of the bed, Suvi outreached her hands for support, but Ryder denied them. She shook her head to indicate help wasn’t wanted and that she could stand on her own. Sara had felt increasingly better over the past week, but overall a tad weak and achy as she moved.

The Pathfinder was hunched over as she sat on the bed. She took a deep breath and stood, slowly but surely. Outwardly, her face hid how proud she was, though Suvi and Lexi showered her with light cheers. Ryder grinned, deeply and sincerely and locked eyes with Suvi in front of her. Without a second thought, she enveloped the redhead in a searing embrace. Ryder took a deep breath and relished in the feeling- it was like returning home.

“How do you feel?” Lexi interrupted the Pathfinder’s hug with an earnest smile.

Ryder managed to tear herself away from Suvi long enough to answer Lexi. “I feel like the Pathfinder.” Her lopsided grin spoke more than Sara’s words, sending a message that she truly felt good.

Doctor T’Perro chuckled at Sara’s good news and questioned further. “I don’t doubt that, Ryder, but how do you  _ feel _ ?”

“I feel good, just a little weak and some minor aches that you assured me will clear up with physical therapy.” Ryder lifted an eyebrow towards Lexi and tilted the corner of her mouth. “When will I be good to go to work again?”

Suvi wrapped her arms around Sara’s waist and groaned. “Are you so eager to get back out there? You’ve got plenty of time to save the cluster.” She nuzzled her face into Sara’s side and hoped to convince the Pathfinder to take things slow. Doctor Anwar wasn’t a fan of the idea of having Ryder go back out into the field. She knew it was Sara’s job, but selfishly, she wanted her there with her, where she knew Sara was safe.

A dramatic scoff was forced from Sara’s lips. “I already  _ did  _ save the cluster, now I’ll just be spending the rest of my adult life polishing it.” She laughed.

Lexi returned the chuckle, paying no mind to Suvi’s disappointment. “You should be good to put yourself back in danger this time next month.”

One month. The thought of having Sara return to the field was vexing to Suvi, though it was inevitable. However, the realization that she had Sara to herself for a full month had eased the pain by a fraction. Sure, their time would be broken up by meetings and interviews on each of their part, by Suvi knew Sara was safe, and at the end of each day, her fiancée would return home to her.

“Not bad,” Ryder shrugged. “I suppose it will give me time to clean up some paperwork or… whatever.” She chuckled, looking down at Suvi wrapped around her.

“You being optimistic is weird,” Lexi began with a light tone in her voice as she continued. “Though it is certainly a welcome alternative. Alright, so do you feel like walking?”

Suvi untangled herself from her Pathfinder to take note of her response. 

“I feel like running a marathon. Like kicking the Archon’s ugly ass all over again.” The blonde grinned and wove her fingers into Suvi’s. 

Upon Sara’s first, long-awaited step, her knee popped. Lexi and Suvi both hissed at the sound through closed teeth, practically feeling the pain themselves.

Ryder slapped her leg and painfully laughed through the hurt. “No, it’s okay. I’m fine.” She angled her eyes over to Lexi and thanked her once more for her hard work. “Lexi, thank you for saving my life  _ again _ .”

The asari smiled over to Sara and nodded her head. “I’m glad I could help, Sara. I’ll see you in the morning.” 

As the door closed behind Sara, Lexi found herself clawing away at the heap of emotions she had been dealing with for the last two weeks. Doctor T’Perro took pride in herself as she watched the Pathfinder leave the medbay. The life she worked so helplessly over had just walked out of her room with her loved one, and her team eager to see her. 

Of course Lexi knew she wasn’t due all the credit, as it also goes to SAM and Harry, but Lexi knew she did a damn good job and she felt it as her cheeks began to hurt from smiling. Just as quickly as she formed a smile, her mouth fell completely into a crumpled frown. Tears gave no warning as they spilled over and fell from her eyes. The stresses that Lexi had dealt with for so long had finally caught up to her, and she knew a long awaited, decent night’s sleep was all she needed.

Ryder and Suvi crossed the line into the Pathfinder’s quarters together, hand in hand. Suvi watched over Sara scoping out the room and smiling. Suvi instantly felt giddy at witnessing the smile of her partner. She helped Sara into the bed and informed her she’d be right back with Sara’s favorite brew of tea.

From the depths of her many blankets, Sara ran her eyes across the room. She didn’t have to try and remember, she didn’t have to sit and recall every memory, she knew without faltering that this was her happiness. 

Sara spotted her favorite jacket folded over the arm of the couch as she left it there. She noticed the radio and two champagne flutes placed just exactly as they were before. Ryder even noticed the familiar and faint scent of her Mom, as she had been staying there for almost two weeks. It was comforting to know everything was back in play, and she could simply pick up where she left off.

Suvi skipped in with a single mug of Oolong tea for Sara. She carefully placed the mug in Sara’s hands and watched her take her first sip. Suvi immediately threw herself onto the bed beside Sara, nearly spilling her tea.

The blonde held her hand over the mug to shield any tea from escaping as Suvi catapulted onto the bed. Ryder was ready to protest until she glanced over and saw the beaming face of her beautiful fiancée. “What’s this face?” Sara’s own expression held caution as she waited for Suvi to answer.

“Cora told me something just now.” The redhead simpered.

Sara lifted her eyebrow and took a sip of tea. “Cora told you something, okay. What’d she tell you?”

Suvi shifted even closer to Sara and displayed an even wider grin. “Cora told me something about  _ you _ .”

“Cora told you something about  _ me _ , alright, so what did Cora tell you about  _ me _ ?” Sara fidgeted in the bed, playing along to Suvi’s game.

“Sorry, Pathfinder,” Suvi abruptly shot out of the bed and wandered over to the closet to change. “It’s top secret.” The Doctor continued forward and removed her shirt in plain sight of Sara.

Ryder sighed while running her eyes all over Suvi as she continued to undress. “Top secret.” She sucked her teeth and chuckled at how well Suvi was playing her. “So what do I have to do to access such private information?”

Clad in only a purple bra and matching panties, the redhead strutted over to Sara and straddled her. She burrowed her eyes into Sara’s gaze and made a home there. She felt something she had been unable to feel for the first time in weeks. There was life in Sara’s eyes- life laced with happiness and joy and love. Suvi could see it and she starved for it.

Sara offered the same gaze as Suvi. Long and lingered, soft and steady, bold and burning. It wasn’t suvi’s body she was after, it wasn’t sex or lust or touch; it was the simple being of her presence. Ryder needed her there as much as Suvi needed Sara. Like air, like water, like food and shelter, it was a need in order to survive.

After the wordless exchange, suvi had no fears, no worries. Her heart felt at peace there with Sara in that moment. Whatever their future were to throw at them, there was no taking this moment away. 

Suvi leaned in closer until her lips joined with Sara’s. It was the first kiss they had shared in two weeks. So much time and torture between, so much anger and hope. It all came crashing down around both bodies as they displayed their affection towards each other through liplock.

Ryder’s right hand tangled into Suvi’s hair as her left wandered down her side and set up camp at her hip. She missed the familiar feeling and the comfort that Suvi brought to the table. It was love in action and she only wished there was some way to repay her for being so patient.

The feeling of Sara’s lips gently brushing against hers was something Suvi dreamed of. She looked forward to Sara’s lips and her company each night after work. The passion and spontaneity her partner illustrated was what drew her closer to Sara every day. The element of surprise was what Suvi needed in a relationship to keep it interesting, and Ryder had many surprises up her sleeve.

The vehemence of the kiss never slowed down, forcing the two to separate or stay there forever. The moment Suvi barely tore herself away, Sara found her lips tarry and her forehead resting against Suvi’s. Her eyes were unable to open as she took a second longer to catch her breath. 

Upon dipping back down into reality, Suvi flashed a smile so gentle and light and rolled off of Sara. “Cora told me that even when you didn’t know who I was, you thought I was pretty.”

Sara taped her eyes back onto Suvi and flashed a similar smile. “It’s true. I was mad crushing for the twelve minutes I didn’t know you.” She giggled.

As the minutes grew into hours, the scientist of the Tempest was cozied up in her bed with datapad in left hand, Ryder in the right. Suvi was propped up against the headboard with Sara’s arms wrapped around her waist and her head resting on her stomach. She looked down to the blonde deep in slumber and fell in love twice over.

The Pathfinder’s door was being accessed as Suvi looked to the clock, noticing the late hour. She unlocked it for the visitor to find Cora behind the door.

“Oh, please don’t need her.” she whispered. “She just got to sleep and she needs the rest.” Suvi’s sad eyes beseeched the commando to be generous and let their Pathfinder sleep.

“No, it’s fine.” Cora assured with a soft smile. She had never seen her friend at such ease and in such comfort. Seeing Sara back in her room with the one she loved most was what Cora needed to feel whole again. “I just wanted to let one of you know that we’ve set course to Voeld. We’re picking up Liam in the morning.”

Suvi gently nodded her head and flashed friendly eyes to the huntress. “Okay. I’ll let her know when she wakes up.”

Cora barely nodded her head once for thanks. She gave one last glance at the couple and turned away to let them rest.

 

 


	8. Part Two: Protecting Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryder realizes she has some business to take care of before she can relax.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part Two is long and messy- Sorry, I warned you!
> 
> I hope everyone is enjoying the ride so far. Thanks for all the attention, you are all so appreciated!

The morning hours rolled around for the Tempest and it’s crew as the light slipped through the window. The snow of Voeld gave the morning light a lovely light blue tint to the light that peeked in, giving off a calming and quiet vibe to the ship.

The subtle sunlight danced across Sara’s face and carefully woke her up. She stretched and yawned and rolled around in a bid to shake away the drowsy effects the night before had left her with. Beside her was the sleeping redhead that seemed to be the culprit of her late night- the one and only reason losing sleep would ever be okay. 

Sara shifted her head around and peeped out of the window to notice the snow surrounding the ship. Immediately she knew where they were, but couldn’t find out why. She turned her focus to Suvi and brushed the strands of red hair from her face to wake her up; Ryder felt guilty in doing so, but needed answers.

The redhead lazily stretched and drew in a deep breath as she set her eyes on Sara. Finally waking up beside her was a reality again. “Good morning, love.” Suvi’s voice was low and hoarse given the deep sleep she was finally able to come by.

“Good morning.” The Pathfinder croaked back to Suvi. “Do you happen to know why we’re on Voeld, by chance?”

“Oh, yes.” Suvi stretched once more before sitting up and peeking out of the window to view the snow from the warmth. “Last night, Cora came in and told me that we were on course to Voeld so we could pick up Liam.”

Ryder crunched her face deep in thought to put the words into question.

“Liam is the one who-”

Sara waved away her partner’s explanation and cut her off. “No, I know which one he is, I’m just wondering why we’re picking him up so early. I’m not able to work for another month, so he could be working this whole time. Why come back now?”

The scientist slid back down into bed and rolled onto her side. She ran her hand over Sara’s arm and looked up to her. “I’m not sure.”

The blue eyes danced around the room as Sara’s face remained unchanging. “ _ Cora  _ told you this?” Ryder seeked clarity in order to put some missing pieces together.

“Yes. She came in while you were sleeping.” Her hands continued to trail over Sara’s body just to simply touch her and allow herself to process how real she was. “Why, what’s going on?”

As her fiancée didn’t answer her, Suvi froze and glued her eyes on Sara’s face. She watched the blonde’s expression fall stoic and turn into a cocktail of amusement and anger. “Sara, what is it?” 

“We’re not here to pick up Liam.” Sara replied in a sharp manner. She threw the covers off herself and slowly swiveled around to the edge of the bed to stand. 

“Whoa, Sara, what are you doing?” Suvi jumped up and ran around the bed in front of Sara.

“I need you to help me get ready, I have to go out there.” Ryder rose from her seat and lumbered over to her closet. “SAM get Vetra and Drack on standby.”

Suvi aimlessly stood over to the side as it all happened so quickly and without explanation. “ _ What _ ? You can’t go back out there you’re seriously injured.”

“I’m not  _ seriously injured _ , I’m just slow. I have to get out there  _ now  _ because Scott and Cora are out there looking for Kalinda as we speak.” She slipped on her long-sleeved compression top and looked to Suvi. 

Doctor Anwar shook her head and felt her words hide away. She scoffed and threw up her hands, buying time to find something to say. “If Kalinda is out there, she’ll shoot you again if she sees you.” 

Ryder wandered over to Suvi and placed both hands on her arms. “You  _ know  _ I have to do this. It’s a risk I have to take. If Cora and Scott do anything and they get caught for it, the consequences could destroy their career, or lives even.”

Suvi was frozen still, face stoic and eyes remaining on Sara’s. Words eluded her once again as the anger was much too thick to fight. If she opened her mouth, there was no telling what would fly out of it. She kept her mouth closed in order to remain calm.

It was a type of anger Sara hadn’t seen in Suvi before. She was used to yelling and fighting and expressing rage in any way possible, but silence was never an option. Ryder sighed through the silence and swept her hands off of Suvi’s arms. “I love you.”

The redhead watched her Pathfinder trudge through the door and disappear behind it. She felt her face burn and her eyes grow glossy. She couldn’t tell if she was more upset with Sara or if it was true anger aimed at Scott and Cora for putting Sara in this position to begin with. She prepared for several hours of waiting ahead of her and decided to join her coworker on the bridge to bide her time and keep distracted.

“Just let us do it, kid, you’re not suited for this yet.” Drack leaned against the wall of the loadout station and gave his best shot to convince Sara to let him take over.

“Help me with this chest piece.” Ryder turned her back to Vetra and waited for the turian to do as instructed. When she looked over her shoulder, Vetra stood there hesitantly, clearly not a fan of Sara’s expedition either. “Vetra! Clip me, please!”

The turian went on to clip the back of Sara’s chest piece and gave Drack an eye roll, courtesy of the Pathfinder.

Once Ryder gave the summary to Vetra and Drack in the loadout station, they made their way to the cargo bay to make their exit. Sara walked in to discover the nomad was missing and felt a heat rush to her cheeks. “SAM, where is the nomad?”

“Scott and Lieutenant Harper left with the nomad two hours ago.” The AI quickly responded.

“Fuck!” Ryder wasn’t furious until finding out she had no means of transportation. She lost her temper at the discovery of the missing nomad, knowing Scott and Cora purposely went out against her orders, while also making sure Sara couldn’t follow them. “Vetra, run ahead and get us a shuttle from the port. SAM, keep me updated on the location of the nomad.”

Several minutes ticked by as Ryder and Drack awaited Vetra’s arrival with the shuttle and a proper pilot. The shuttle wasn’t anything top-notch, but it was able to get them from point A to point B faster than the nomad would. While following the nomad’s location for several minutes, Ryder finally noticed the vehicle had been stopped for a moment and gave the coordinates to the pilot. 

The shuttle inched closer to the ground directly in front of a cave. All three crew mates jumped out of the aircraft and briefly investigated the cave before Ryder made a judgement call. “I’m going to tell the pilot not to to wait. He’s free to go.”

Before Ryder took off, Vetra called out to the Pathfinder. “Wait, Ryder. If the nomad is in bad shape or if something happened, we might need a ride out of here.”

Sara scooted closer to the turian and spoke through gritted teeth. “If something goes down here, we don’t need a pilot as a witness.” Vetra nodded in agreement and sent Sara on her way to dismiss the pilot.

Drack, Vetra and Sara all traded looks as they began their investigation. “Ryder, let me go first. We don’t know what’s sneaking around in here.” Drack shoved the blonde behind him and trudged in front.

Sara rolled her eyes at the caution, but secretly appreciated her friend’s concern. 

The trio had journeyed for roughly a hundred yards before running into a metal gate. Vetra observed the gate for two quick seconds before speaking up. “Locked.”

Sara sighed and looked around. “SAM, could you unlock this?”

“Yes, Pathfinder, but it will take some time.” SAM’s monotone voice rang through her Omni-tool, causing Sara to feel the slightest bit impatient already.

SAM had been hacking at the metal gate for nearly thirty seconds before the team had heard raised voices evolve into muffled yelling.

“Oh, shit.” Sara looked to Vetra and Drack and and all three shared the same worry. “SAM, how much longer?”

“97 Percent complete, Pathfinder.” 

The three seconds left it took SAM seemed like a lifetime to Sara. She knew without a doubt she could hear her brother’s voice. The door hissed open slowly, presenting Scott holding up a gun to a man on the metal bridge in front of them. Cora was beside him, hand hovering directly above her N7 Valkyrie and ready for action.

Cora’s Head twisted around to meet a fuming Sara with Vetra and Drack behind her. “ _ Sara _ ?”

“What the absolute motherfuck is going on here?” Sara’s bright blue eyes made her face seem blistering red, and her hands balled up into fists at her side. She felt her heart rate spike and her stomach turn hollow.

The man on the bridge had his hands held at head level. “Your little brother and his pet are both mad you got a booboo.” 

Ryder looked up to the stranger and narrowed her eyes.

“You should really keep your beasts on a tighter leash, Pathfinder.” The man smirked with dark and glowering eyes.

“Who are you?” Sara asked, still seething.

The man remained stock-still as he introduced himself to Ryder. “Atkins? Dale Atkins, you might remember the name.”

Ryder placed her hands on her hips and scoffed at the name. “Surprisingly, I  _ do  _ remember the name, no thanks to your boss. You’re the sad soul who tried to sabotage the Nexus because you were whining about your sister being exiled or some dumb shit.”

From the bridge, Dale lowered his hands and wrinkled his nose. The inconsiderate manner of the Pathfinder was Dale’s main reason he didn’t feel sorry for her injury.

“Put your hands back up!” Scott was blustering mad as he stiffened his arm once again.

“Where is Kalinda?” Cora hollered from her relaxed position. Arms crossed, and feet wide, she creased her brow in anger.

“I’m right here, darling, don’t be so uptight.” The asari walked in with her hands up and each crew member but Sara and Scott aimed there sights on her.

“You’re late to the party.” Sara crossed her arms and inched closer to Kalinda, putting everyone else on edge.

“I know, my apologies, dear. I like to be fashionably late. Make the audience wait and wonder.” She winked and rested her arms by her side, striding closer to Sara.

Vetra tensed up, gun nearly shaking with nerves in order to avoid another incident. “Pathfinder?” She called to Sara for her orders.

“It’s fine, Vetra.” Ryder assured. “So, Kalinda, are we going to do this the easy way, or the hard way?”

Kalinda ran her eyes over the Pathfinder’s team and raised her brow. “You’re a loved woman, Ryder. All these people to protect you. But I’d like to point out that this issue was not my doing.”

Drack snorted at Kalinda’s denial and never moved his gun.

“Oh, what a relief.” Sara chuckled sarcastically. “I’m only assuming you have some evidence to back that up.”

“Pathfinder!” Liam charged in full speed, causing Cora and Vetra to move their aim from Kalinda to Liam out of surprise.

“Liam? What- how did you-” Sara contorted her face in confusion and shifted her eyes to Kosta.

“I know the pilot that took you here; look, it wasn’t Kalinda who shot you, it was him.” Kosta pointed his thumb over to Dale, still standing on the bridge to the right.

“ _ What _ ?”  Dale’s voice was guttural and harsh at Liam’s accusations.

“How do you know that?” Scott tested the cop, not understanding his information.

“I live here now and I’ve been here for two consecutive weeks, I have connections everywhere. A week before you came here for the architect, Dale used  _ one  _ terminal in Techix to send you an email every other day, those are his run days to get resources. It totals up to four emails. He also sent the email to Peebs, making it seem like it was Kalinda.” Liam was huffing and panting as he struggled to get his story out. His forehead was sweating bullets, hinting at the fact that he was in a hurry to get to Ryder. “All of those emails you got from ‘ _ worried citizens’  _ are  _ all him _ . All except for Blake’s email. Buxil noticed him using the terminal a lot and decided to trace the emails since he doesn’t have permission to use it anyways. All him.”

Every pair of eyes shifted to Dale who hadn’t moved an inch. “You didn’t do anything to get my sister back and then you exiled  _ me  _ for defending her.” Atkins gave his reasoning which counted for nothing.

“I exiled you for sabotaging the Nexus. You could’ve gotten people killed.” Sara stated calmly. Her left hand rested on her hip, as she gestured for Dale with her right. “Come on, you and I are going to have a talk.”

“Sara you’re not actually going outside with him alone, are you?” Cora whispered in Sara’s ear and plastered her focus on her face. The thought of having her Pathfinder and best friend walk alone with the same man that tried to get her killed was enraging.

Ryder purposely looked over Cora up and down with an arched eyebrow and shook her head. “No.” She darted her eyes over to the turian and beckoned her. “Vetra! Come with me please and make sure he doesn’t try to kill me.” Sara smirked.

The commando snapped at Ryder’s attitude, feeling defensive she wasn’t picked to protect the Pathfinder. It was her job. “Are you kidding me?” 

As Sara was walking away, she stopped immediately at Cora’s second-guessing. She marched up to Cora face-to-face and snapped right back. “ _ Vetra  _ isn’t going to lose her mind and slip a bullet into anyone, unlike what you two were planning to do.” Ryder took several seconds to stare the huntress into submission and felt the heat return to her face.

Vetra waited by the entrance of the cave while Ryder and Dale stood several feet away out of hearing range. Sara planted herself in the snow directly in front of the man and snarled to herself. “What was it you were hoping to accomplish, exactly?”

Atkins scoffed and landed a smoldering look into Sara’s eyes. “Your death.”

Ryder couldn’t help but laugh at the culprit’s arrogance. She realized Dale no longer had anything to lose, so he was a loose cannon. “Cute. Let’s go ahead and get you to a cell where you belong.”

“Fine, fine.” Dale threw up his hands and surrendered. “But just know one day I’ll get out. Who will I go for then? Will it be you? Or perhaps your brother, your Mother, or wait… maybe it’ll be that pretty little girlfriend of yours.”

Sara’s stoic face never gave the surprise away. She barely let Dale finish his sentence before Ryder swiftly pulled her pistol and squeezed the trigger. She put a bullet in Dale’s forehead in nearly the same place he shot her, though Dale wasn’t quite so Lucky. Ryder watched his lifeless body fall into the snow. She knew the feeling.

Vetra’s eyes grew large and her mouth gaped open upon witnessing the scene in front of her. “Sara…” 

Ryder holstered her N7 Eagle and wiped the blood from her face with her gloved hand. “What? My finger slipped, you saw it.” The Pathfinder shrugged nonchalantly, and tilted her brow as if nothing happened. 

Cora and Scott came racing out at full speed and froze once they spotted Dale’s body in the snow. “Sara, what have you done?” The commando forced both hands behind her head in a bid to process the scene. Scott couldn’t move or speak with his hand seemingly stuck to his forehead, so he let his girlfriend do the talking.

Ryder drew in a deep breath and looked over to Dale’s body one last time. “Oops. Anyways, let’s go get Liam and Drack and tell Kalinda there’s been an accident, she’ll understand.” 

Kalinda stood with arms relaxed by her side and chuckled. “He was slime, anyways. My finger  _ almost slipped  _ while I was with him several times.”

Ryder laughed at Kalinda’s easy-going personality. She was nothing like PeeBee made her out to be. “Why was he on your team if he was such slime?” 

“He was a decent smuggler. But I have four other smugglers anyways, it’s not like he was essential.” She groaned and rolled her eyes.

Ryder shook hands with the asari before gathering her team and making her exit. “Sorry for the inconvenience, Kalinda. We’ll leave you to your illegal business.” Sara chuckled and turned on her heels.

“Pathfinder.” Kalinda piped up one last time as Sara turned away. “How is Pelessaria?”

The blonde twisted back around and shot up her brow. “PeeBee is well. She’s doing good work, you’d be proud.” She smiled. “I’ll tell her you asked about her.”

“No, don’t.” Kalinda looked to her feet then back up to Sara. “I just wanted to know.”

Ryder nodded her head and left the cave with her remaining crew members, leaving all the dirty business behind.

Sara, Cora and Scott were the last up the ramp to the Tempest, making it easy for Ryder to get them alone. “Both of you are suspended when we start working again.”

“You’re shitting me.” Scott stopped in his tracks up the ramp and scowled at his sister. All Scott wanted was to protect his family and friends. Not only did he see it as his duty or job, it was his need to protect those that belong with him. He couldn’t fathom why he would be punished for doing what had to be done.

Both Ryder twins acted defensively and territorially when it came to their dearest. Sara tried her best to see Scott’s side, but because Scott was Sara’s brother, it was  _ her  _ duty to protect  _ him _ . “I cannot have this conversation with you now or I will lose my temper and beat the shit out of you.”

Ryder watched her brother stomp up the ramp and into hiding like a angsty teenager. She was fine with his tantrum as long as he was safe. Sara was huffing and panting in order to calm herself before meeting up with all her of her team. She took a moment, collected herself, then prepared to address the situation to anyone who asked.

Sara didn’t even have time to make it out of the cargo bay before Lexi came running to evaluate any damage. “By the Goddess, you’re truly in a hurry to get yourself killed, aren’t you?” The asari held up her hand to guide Sara into the medbay for a look-over. “You love making me work for my paycheck, don’t you?”

Ryder chuckled as Lexi continued ranting to herself and began to examine her. She sat patiently, letting the doctor do whatever it was that she did to keep Ryder from falling apart. Her eyes skipped around until the door slid open to introduce Doctor Anwar.

At first sight, Suvi seemed relaxed, but upon spotting the remaining bit of blood on Sara’s face, she sprang into action. “My God, what happened to you?” The redhead scrambled over to the sink with a cloth to clean up her face.

“It’s not mine, it’s okay.” Ryder hesitantly announced. Sara faced the fact that she was in for a difficult conversation. Some members of the team could understand Sara’s method of thinking and action, but Suvi wasn’t part of the ground team; she never had to make life and death decisions on the spot. 

Suvi arrested in confusion. She stood stock-still at the news. Her initial thought was her worst fear- someone tried to kill her again and she defended herself. She moved on to other thoughts and fears. She worked up the courage to ask for clarity as she ran the wet cloth over Sara’s face. “Why is someone else’s blood on your face?”

“I found the sad son-of-a-bitch who tried to kill me. He’s just dramatic.” Ryder lead off with a downplay of the actual events of the morning.

“ _ He _ ?” Lexi questioned while she started to unclip parts of Sara’s armor. “So what about Kalinda, it wasn’t her?”

The blonde turned her head to Doctor T’Perro behind her and prepared to give the full report. “No, it wasn’t her. It was someone I exiled during my first days as Pathfinder. He worked for Kalinda.”

“Okay, so why was his blood on your face, Sara?” The redhead pulled the cloth away and crossed her arms and waited for an answer.

Sara chewed at her bottom lip and looked to Lexi with guilty eyes before giving Suvi the same look. She let out a sigh and answered honestly. “He threatened the people I love.”

Lexi slapped a hand on Sara’s shoulder from behind her and stuck it there. “You’re not telling me you killed this boy, Ryder?”

The Pathfinder struggled to pick up her eyes to see what Suvi was feeling. She finally mustered the grit to witness her expression herself.

As Ryder looked to her fiancée, she captured the fear in her eyes. Suvi looked at Sara the way she looked at strangers- at killers. Sara couldn’t build the words to explain how it happened, so she let the lingering silence take over.

The physician cleared her throat and broke the quiet room. “Who all knows about this, does Kalinda know?”

The same guilty eyes traced over Lexi and Sara nodded. “Yeah Kalinda knows. And everyone on the team knows too, I guess. Except for Jaal since he’s not here.”

Suvi’s eyes expanded twice in size as Ryder kept talking. “Kalinda knows you killed one of her employees?” She hissed through a half whisper that screamed louder than yelling.

Sara was quick to extinguish the worries of the two women around her. “Kalinda and I talked about it after. I explained how it was an accident and how-”

“That’s an obvious lie.” Suvi snapped.

Sara slowly moved her eyes in suvi’s direction, but still refrained from contact. “I know, but just let me finish. Kalinda is running an illegal business, she works with exiles. She can’t tattle on me anyways without exiling herself.” Sara explained. “Besides, Dale was an exile, there’s no record of him in the initiative, so I couldn’t be arrested or fired for killing him. There’s no proof, either. So I’m safe!”

Lexi seemed to pick up on Sara’s explanation until Suvi interrupted. “Lexi, could you give us just a moment? I want to talk to the Pathfinder alone, then she’s all yours.” Her crossed arms and stern glare told both women it wasn’t a small chat that Suvi wanted.

Doctor T’Perro nodded and left the medbay to check in with the rest of the team. Once Lexi was gone, Suvi spoke up to say her piece and get the clarification she needed. “I just don’t understand why you had to kill him,” she huffed. “Wasn’t the whole point of you going out there to  _ stop  _ Scott and Cora from killing anybody?”

Sara’s shameful gaze didn’t help her any. She searched deep inside her to try to word it in a way where Suvi wouldn’t blame their relationship for Sara’s actions. Their relationship was the reason she had to kill Dale, she just didn’t want Suvi to know. “Dale was an exile, which means he wasn’t eligible to be put back into cryo. He only qualified for jail time. Attempted murder doesn’t give you a life sentence. He told me he would get out, and when he does, he would still be seeking revenge.”

“So he would try and kill you again, wha- I don’t understand.” The redhead never moved a muscle as she searched for answers.

Ryder started to lose a small bit of patience for to her continuous interrogation. “I told you, he threatened the people I’m supposed to be protecting.”

“Threatened how? Who?” Suvi shook her head, still lost in the story.

Ryder hopped off the bed and moved in closer to her science officer. “Suvi! How naive could you possibly be! He threatened to come after  _ you  _ when he got out of jail! I’m not taking any chances of having that happen! Protest all you want, I don’t care.” She stared Suvi, not knowing how to react next.

Suvi’s face relaxed upon her fiancée’s explanation. She slowly closed the space between them and cupped Sara’s cheek with the palm of her hand. The forced eye contact between them was no longer forced, as Suvi looked into her lover’s eyes. She leaned in and kissed her Pathfinder, her protector, her lover and best friend.

Doctor Anwar didn’t like hearing that she was the number one reason this man died, guilty or not, but she couldn’t deny that she found Sara’s protective side highly attractive. 

Sara pulled away from the softness of her fiancée’s lips. “You’re mine, what do you expect?” She explained with a sternness that Suvi secretly loved. “Nobody touches you.”

Suvi found herself smiling again, and melting at Ryder’s promise. “Nobody but you.” She giggled.

Ryder chuckled back at Suvi’s playful side. “Nobody but me.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


 

 


	9. The Ryder Gripers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara confronts Scott about his decision to defy her orders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the Kudos and comments!
> 
>  
> 
> (Bear with me as I’m trying to improve my writing style; thanks!)

It was Drack’s famous homemade pizza. Ryder didn’t even know such a thing as pizza even existed anymore, but she thanked her lucky stars that it did. Every bite seemed to calm her down a tad bit more. It had been nearly a week since she had spoken to Cora, and she hadn’t even seen her brother.

Drack kept his eyes on the Pathfinder, keeping sure not to smother her, but also being sure to be there when she needed him. “You know, the pizza was an offering to an open table.”

“What?” The blonde constantly kept her mouth full. There was too much pizza to slow down now, so she didn’t stop. Even so, it was only Drack. Sara knew he didn’t care too much about table etiquette.

The krogan grunted while biting into his pizza. The beady eyes of Drack planted on Sara and narrowed. “You should talk to your brother.”

Immediately, Sara’s first thought was the pizza acted as a small intervention or a bribe of sorts. She had heard from Kallo, Suvi, Gil and Lexi on the matter. Now everyone was on board and getting Drack involved, too. As irritated as Sara was on the inside, the pizza sure did make up for a huge portion.

“Something smells positively ambrosial in here.” PeeBee suddenly appeared through the Galley door, not caring about the seemingly serious faces of the other two occupants. “ _ Pizza _ ? Pops, why didn’t you tell me you made pizza?” The asari made herself at home directly beside Drack and pulled her off a slice.

“This conversation might be a bit too advanced for your company.” Drack warned the asari with a gravelly tone of voice. He avoided eye contact, hoping she would take the hint and flee.

Chewing her slice, PeeBee darted her eyes over to Drack and felt confused. “What are you trying to say, I’m stupid?”

Sara rolled her eyes and swallowed. “He’s trying to get me to talk to Scott, and he doesn’t want to talk about it with people in here in case I lose my shit.”

PeeBee grunted as she took another bite and nodded. “Mm. Yeah, that’s not a bad idea, Ryder.”

If Sara had one credit for every time she received unwanted advice about speaking to her brother or the commando, she’d fire all of the crew mates that made the suggestion and hire new mute teammates. She was tired and agitated, and honestly, a tad disappointed that most of her friends made her feel as if it were her own fault. Ryder wasn’t exactly sure who was to blame, but she was positive she wasn't in the wrong. All she wanted was protection and safety for her loved ones, and that included her brother.

“I am  _ not  _ talking to that crusty son of a bitch. He’s nothing more than a vagina, and I can’t handle speaking to that.” Ryder snarled and wasted no time picking out her third slice of pizza. The more she was eating, the less talking she’d be doing.

PeeBee gave a sideways glance to Drack and didn’t think twice about the words that flew out of her mouth, as always. “Last I heard, you  _ like  _ vaginas.” She sputtered the words and aimed them at Ryder, yet missed eye contact for obvious reasons.

Drack was careful not to act. The krogan simply moved his focus to settle on the pizza in front of him and thought about how well this conversation could have gone if it weren’t for PeeBee.

Disregarding the full mouth she was sporting, Sara flipped her eyes and huffed. Biting her tongue was quickly less of an option than it was earlier. “Did you- are you fucking serious?”

“I’m just saying,” PeeBee continued chewing and talking simultaneously as she prepared her advice. “Despite your brother’s crustiness, you’re the Pathfinder and it’s your job to make sure your crew is level-headed; related or not.”

For a split second, Sara couldn’t believe the validity of PeeBee’s input, but it was true. Her silence only lasted for two seconds until Sara couldn’t handle keeping her temper contained. “That damn salt shaker is never level-headed. He gets salty over every little thing, it’s unbearable. Even when it’s valid, he gets pissed.” She huffed. “There’s no reasoning with someone as stubborn and childish as he is.”

Drack grunted from across the table; barely audible, but guttural enough to be felt by both women. When he captured the eyes of them each, he didn’t hold back his reasoning. “You’re stubborn, too, kid.”

Sara scowled for all of two seconds to fit her piece in. “I’m not-”

“I wasn’t done.” Drack snorted. He continued on with several instances of when Sara didn’t get her way, so she had to conform the circumstances to fit her needs. “I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I know you can see things from your brother’s point of view. Put yourself in his shoes and think about how you’d react.”

A rugged and defeated sigh tumbled from Ryder’s lips as she heard Drack’s explanation. She failed to give an answer but only grunted in response as she stood to take her leave. “Thanks for the pizza.” She quickly wiped her hands with a stray napkin and left the galley to puzzle over her friend’s suggestions.

It took every ounce of willpower for Sara to swallow her pride, but she did it. She had SAM call for both Scott and Cora to do her duty as Pathfinder and clear things up. How she would explain her case, she didn’t know. Sara wasn’t sure exactly what part of the situation made Sara right, but she knew she wasn’t wrong. Ryder wasn’t usually one to get nervous over speeches, especially talks with her brother and best friend, but this was different. She never had to deal with unruly teammates. Perhaps Sara knew what she would say when the time came.

Sara only took about five minutes to speak to Cora about her concerns and reasons. With Cora being the military woman she was, she caught on quickly to discipline and the reasons for it. Harper was never much one for second-guessing or complaining, she simply took her lesson and rolled with it, even when she didn’t agree or like it.

Scott on the other hand, was a different story. Ryder sat waiting in the upper-level conference room for nearly ten minutes before her patience began to rapidly dwindle. “SAM, where i-”

“I’m right here, calm your shit.” Scott stomped up the ramp with untethered rage. He dreaded the lecture of his equal and his sister, no less. Despite her being Pathfinder, Scott knew how to push his sister’s buttons and had every intention of doing so.

It was instant shift in approach once Sara caught a glimpse of Scott’s attitude. She felt her muscles tense up and her heart pumping just that much faster. Ryder willed herself to remain calm and to ignore the adrenaline rush her brother had triggered. The only way Sara was going to work on her temper, was to practice good patience.

Ryder slowly stepped closer to her brother and locked eyes with him. “I am your Pathfinder and you will treat me with respect.” She was past a casual conversation and being civil clearly was no longer an option for Scott. Two could play at that game.

“Yeah, you might be Pathfinder, but just because you have a fancy title it doesn’t give you the right to throw around your anger.” Scott felt a blushing reach his face and he felt borderline empowered by it. He embraced his anger, knowing good and well he would need it to make his point clearly. “Suspending me and Cora was uncalled for, and that was taking advantage of your power.”

The Pathfinder sucked her teeth as she felt her face begin to match Scott’s. She took a deep breath and constantly reminded herself her decision to punish the two was the right decision. She didn’t need much convincing in that department, but she did need to encourage herself to keep level-headed, much unlike her brother. Saying something she might regret out of anger would only cause larger issues.

After an elongated pause for Sara to think before reacting, she responded. “Say two of your most trusted teammates  _ clearly  _ violate your orders. What would you have done?” She placed her hands behind her back and lifted her chin. She keep her mind clear and solely focused on the task at hand: convincing her brother she was right.

“Considering my most trusted teammates only wanted to keep me safe and also keeping in mind they are my sibling and best friend, I would give them the benefit of the doubt.” The young man shrugged and dismissed Sara’s actions as if they were pointless. 

“That’s where you’re wrong, though.” Sara speculated every detail of her twin’s opinion and picked out the points that were clearly void of rationality. “You nor Cora didn’t defy my orders in a bid to keep me safe. This was all about you and getting revenge. Also, you know nepotism has no role here. No special treatment.”

“Maybe!” The youngest Ryder listed his voice to be taken more seriously. He tried on several occasions to prove his point and show Sara she was wrong. It was no longer simply about the discipline orders, it was also focused toward who was wrong and who was right. “But you don’t have the right to judge my actions anymore because of what you did!”

The Pathfinder physically felt her eyes widen at scott’s emboldened statement. “Oh. By my actions, I’m assuming you’re referring to me killing the man that threatened you, our Mother and my fiancée?”

Below the conference room, Kallo, Suvi and Vetra all took it upon themselves to listen in. There was no shame in eavesdropping when your boss didn’t take every action possible to have a completely private conversation. The three onlookers leaned up against the wall below, giving them a decent view of the twin’s faces.

“You can’t tell me seeing Sara defend herself unashamedly isn’t one of the hottest things you’ve ever seen.” Vetra tilted her face towards Suvi to get a reaction, but made a point to keep her eyes on Sara.

Suvi’s cheeks turned a light pink long before Vetra made the observation. “I would never deny that  _ this  _ is attractive.”

Vetra scoffed at the scientist’s modesty and corrected her. “Stop being so prudent, Doctor. This is the type of stuff you discuss before you both take off your clothes.”

As Kallo grumbled and rolled his eyes, Doctor Anwar’s face turned the slightest bit brighter at being humiliated by the turian once more. She knew ever since she and Sara became exclusive, Vetra took up every opportunity to tease her. “Oh please, Vetra. I’m just trying to listen.” She hissed in a hushed tone.

Scott went up once more octave higher the closer he got to losing his temper. “That is  _ exactly  _ what I would be referring to!” Just like his twin, Scott was gesturing all around, flailing his arms everywhere and causing a big scene. “I had every intention to go in that cave and get the one responsible for their crimes. I get punished for it, and you get off scott-free because you’re the big, bad Pathfinder.” He finished in a mocking manner.

“Exactly.” Sara’s voice was sharp and tight as she resumed forward in her argument. “You intended to  _ kill  _ someone who wasn’t proven guilty yet. And as I said before, you were doing this for selfish reasons. I was never in any real danger. I was on the ship and I-”

“Would’ve gotten shot the second you left it.” Scott snapped.

Ryder narrowed her eyes at what she currently felt was her lesser. The blonde gritted her teeth to once again slow down enough so she wouldn’t jump off the deep end. “Interrupt me one more time and you’ll wish you hadn’t.”

It was a stare-off of fire and purpose. Every bit of competition the Ryders inhabited was beginning to slowly take over the argument. Each of the twins made an internal agreement with themselves to win this debate by any means necessary.

“Or what, you’ll tattle on me to Mom?” Scott crossed his arms and pinched his eyebrows together.

“You wish that’s what I’d fucking do. I  _ am  _ your boss no matter how much you cry about it. It doesn’t change shit.” Sara threatened. She felt the minor sting of personal references beginning to get thrown around. Scott was wrong if he thought Sara wouldn’t stoop to his level.

“You couldn’t be boss over your fucking dog.” Scott sharply replied. “I’ve seen you try to train him and you’re clueless as hell, you dumb shit.”

It was over for Ryder. She willingly threw away the attempt at patience and was ready to move in at full force. “Perhaps I could train my dog if I wasn’t too busy dealing with your bottom-feeding acting ass. You look like a damn pubic hair you lanky prick.”

Scott glowered over at the Pathfinder and controted his face in befuddlement. “I’m your twin, stupid you look just like me.” At the small pause Sara took, Scott wasted no time to egg her on further. “Go on, shock me- say something intelligent!”

Ryder felt her index finger pop at the force of her balled up fist. Everyone, including Scott, knew Sara didn’t take kindly to insults about her intelligence. “Why don’t I help you slip back into something more comfortable, like a coma?”

“I could eat a can of alphabet soup and shit out a better insult than that.” The alliance veteran chuckled at his sister’s faces and took a chance. “Keep rolling your eyes, maybe you’ll find a brain back there!” He chimed out an egotistical laugh, as if he was full of pride.

“You keep your damn mouth shut. If I wanted to hear from an asshole, I’d fart.” Sara’s attitude shifted immensely from the moment she started speaking with her brother. Her entire face and body language was telling of her mood, and Scott was loving every second of it.

From below the feud, the onlookers were growing in number. Cora and PeeBee joined in against the wall and waited out the fight to find who would come out on top. It was now just a competition of who had the better insults and who could piss off who faster.

“Wow,” Suvi groaned while moving her eyes to anything other than the twins. “That lost it’s sex appeal rather quickly.”

Cora looked to Suvi and understood the faint irritation. “Oh, you’ve never seen a full-on Ryder feud between these two?” Cora raised her voice just enough to speak over PeeBee’s cackling. “The Ryder gripers, I like to call them.”

“Oh, that’s funny.” Vetra chuckled alongside Kallo.

The redhead hinted small signs of concern as she turned to Cora. “Well does it get much worse, when does it end?” 

The commando sighed in thought, thinking back to their debates on the citadel. “It usually ends once there’s a physical altercation.” She answered, following a small puff of air.

“You mean they  _ hit  _ each other?” Suvi’s face twisted in shock at the thought of Sara getting violent. It was something she hated to see, much less witness it while Sara was still recovering.

Harper puzzled once again before answering and and considered stepping in. “Yeah, I mean, I doubt it will come to that.”

Sara lost her bearings and used a tone of voice half the crew had not heard before. “I could kick your bitch ass back into a coma while I’m recovering from brain surgery! I was shot in the fucking head and  _ lived _ , kid!”

PeeBee leaned over and caught Vetra’s eye mid-laughter. “Goddess, Lexi would be having a stroke right now if she heard this.” She grinned.

Appearing from behind the viewers, a disembodied voice arose from the background. “I  _ did  _ hear that, and I’m fine.” Lexi droned. “Let her go ahead and try her luck, she won’t get far.” The physician joined the line of spectators and acted on standby in case one of the twin’s were stupid enough to try the other.

Out of nowhere, Drack marched past the audience and up the ramp to disrupt the dispute between the twins. He grabbed the collar of Scott’s neck and tugged on it to create distance between him and his Pathfinder. The krogan crossed his arms and formidably growled at Scott before turning to Sara and giving the same look. “If you two were Krogan kids, we’d have thrown you in the pit with the adhis by now to force you to work together.” He snorted.

“Scott, you’re a smart kid. But you’re acting like you don’t even know what the military is. You’re an alliance veteran and you still can’t understand the chain of command. You’re sister is your boss, suck it up and deal with it like you’re actual military.”

Scott sunk his head between his shoulders out of embarrassment, spotting the line of onlookers below him.

“And Ryder, you  _ are  _ the actual Pathfinder. Suck up your childish behavior and act like it. No one is going to take you seriously when you stoop down to petulant insults.” Drack grumbled. “I’m going over  _ there _ .” He pointed with a gnarled finger over to the other bystanders. “Don’t leave this spot until you two become adult enough to come up with a solution.”

Despite Drack’s unexpected paternal outburst, Sara never dropped her glaring face or taut shoulders. She realized her argument with Scott went too far, but when she said she was right, she meant it. “I  _ am  _ sorry for the name calling and the querulous lecture.”

Scott’s mind wasn’t changed by a simple apology, but Drack’s words did leave a lingering effect. He felt rather foolish at charging directly at his sister, when he knew it would do no good. “Yeah, I’m sorry for the tantrum. I said some things I didn’t mean.”

“Me too,” Sara continued with her justification, slowly dropping her guarded stance. “I need you to see my side. Normally it wouldn’t matter, but you’re my brother.”

The Pathfinder kept her eyes on scott who finally lifted his focus to his sister.

“You’re explanation is important to me, and your happiness, but I’m trying to run a militarized team, here. We do delicate work here, _all_ of  our jobs are paramount on the Tempest and I need you.” Sara confessed. She leaned in a bit closer to her brother and hushed her volume the slightest bit. “But I need you to cooperate, even when you think I’m wrong. I always want your input, but when I know I’m right, don’t question me. These people look to me for answers, they trust my judgement, and I want you to trust it, too. I can’t leave these actions unpunished.” Her eyes began to flood with guilt, though she knew it was the right decision.

“No, I know. You’re right. I trust you and I understand you to take action. I did wrong, I know.” Scott ran his fingers through his blonde hair and rubbed his face. “But I have to ask… You said this guy threatened us?”

A sigh escaped from Sara as she rolled her neck. Everything she had been avoiding had all come out the wrong way. She knew Scott could take a threat, but Sara didn’t want to him to know that she killed anything that put her loved ones in jeopardy without question. “He threatened to come after you, Mom, and Suvi once he got out of jail and I’m just- I just don’t take those chances.” She shrugged and forced her attention to the floor. 

Ryder always admired Scott’s bravery and the way he took big chances when he was in the alliance. It’s something Sara could never bring herself to do. One wrong judgement call and her family could be gone.

Scott could see the guilt in Sara’s eyes and ordered her to look at him. Once Sara obeyed and brought her eyes to his, he offered a firm confirmation. “I wouldn’t either.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	10. Movie Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a brief shore leave due to Sara’s recovery, it’s Movie Night on the Tempest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can’t end a lengthy story without Smut. Here it is in all it’s over-detailed, overdue glory.

“Oh for fuck’s sake. Of course she fell!” Cora tossed an arm at the screen. She couldn’t believe she was shocked by the same chliché she’d always seen in these types of movies.

“Why do they always have to be blonde, though?” Sara inquired. “The hot blonde is always so clumsy. She just trips over her damn self in the middle of the woods.”

A hush from what the duo believed to be Lexi had caused the silence and an wordless exchange of thought. To the right of the Pathfinder, Cora leaned over quietly to whisper. “Come with me to get popcorn.”

Ryder and Harper both made a stealthy exit, surpassing all members of the team to search out concessions. 

The Galley proved to be the most beneficial area for the two women to speak without interruption, plus they were able to grab some snacks amidst the gossip.

“I figured you’d want to spend your last night with Suvi- alone?” Cora placed the bag of popcorn in the microwave and waited the allotted time. 

The Pathfinder leaned against the counter and shook her head. “Listen,” she scoffed. “I’m an independent woman. I don’t  _ need _ to be with Suvi  _ all  _ the time, okay? Also, I just spent a little over a week with her in Meridian.”

The entire crew, excluding Jaal and Liam, had about two weeks of shore leave for Sara’s recovery. Ryder saw no point in keeping the team on the ship while there was so much to be done on everyone’s personal agendas.

The commando lifted an eyebrow. She didn’t buy Sara’s explanation for one minute. She knew Ryder and how crazy she was for the Doctor. Something was going on.

Cora’s face lifted all sorts of questions as Ryder caught on. She knew Harper wasn’t biting the bait. Sara sighed, giving in to her friend’s investigation. “Suvi wants to wait until we’re married for us to-  be intimate again.”

The commando smirked with tilted eyebrow. “Why?”

“Hell if I know.” Ryder shrugged. “The longer we wait to eat, the hungrier we’ll be; or whatever shitty analogy she used to try and make me feel better.” The blonde pushed herself away from the counter and moved in closer to Cora. Her voice was low and desperate as she spoke. “It’s been over two months. I’ve been shot in the head, I think I deserve some lovin’.”

Cora chuckled at her friend’s despair and took the bag out of the microwave. “Ha, well it’s a good thing you have less than a month left.”

Ryder followed the Lieutenant out of the room. “Yeah, ‘cause I’m starving.”

The Pathfinder and her second both returned to a gruesome scene from Texas Chainsaw Massacre II. Sara noticed Suvi reaching out for her and chuckled. She knew Suvi wasn’t much for horror, much unlike Sara herself. “I can’t believe we missed this scene!”

The redhead leaned over and buried her face in her fiancée’s arm. “I can’t believe you did either, I had to watch it alone!”

Sara scrunched up her face and returned a whisper in Suvi’s ear. “There were seven other people in here, you’re not  _ alone _ .”

“You know what I mean!” Doctor Anwar’s hushed tone grew slightly louder with a hint of frustration, causing Ryder to giggle. She pulled the cover back over both of their laps and snuggled closer to her partner. 

The majority of the crew seemed to be enjoying it, apart from Drack, who had fallen asleep, and PeeBee who kept playing with Rabbit in the floor. Ryder was fully into it with horror being her favorite movie genre, yet Suvi spent the majority of the movie with her face burrowed into Sara’s arm. 

On the other side of the couch, Cora and Scott seemed fully immersed as well; so much so, the couple barely noticed they ran out of popcorn.

Suvi was beginning to grow a bit bored having to miss half the movie due to such violent scenes. She wanted to be a good sport and suffer through it, so leaving was not an option, she simply had to entertain herself. 

The redhead hatched an idea as she sat with her cheek glued to Sara’s shoulder. She concealed a mischievous grin and looked to Sara who was still concentrated on the movie. Under the cover, her wandering hand crawled over to Sara’s thigh which halted when she met with Sara’s hand.

Ryder was pulled out of her focus at the foreign touch and looked to Suvi with a smile. She binded her hand with her fiancée’s and went back to the movie.

Suvi hadn’t planned on Sara’s hand becoming an obstacle, but she ventured forward anyways. She pulled away from Sara’s grip and earned a curious look from the blonde beside her. She planted her eyes on her partner’s and slid her hand into the Sara’s waistband.

Ryder pinched her eyebrows together and smiled. She became eager to find out Suvi’s plan and continued to wait for her next move- and then she felt it. Suvi’s plan was crystal clear by that point, giving Sara every opportunity to object, but Sara gave the green light through a lick of her lips and a smile.

Doctor Anwar reciprocated a devilish grin and began her work. She stuck her face to Sara’s arm once again to go incognito, making sure no one would catch on the their shenanigans. She slid one small finger between Ryder’s legs, running over the sensitive bundle over and over again. It was slow torture for sure, but Suvi was determined to have some fun.

Ryder kept her face focused on the movie and was able to remain still. No squirming or fidgeting, not even her face changed. Despite her body language, Sara was truly enjoying what her partner was doing to her.

With blue eyes glued onto Sara, Suvi knew her partner wasn’t too reactive, so naturally, Sara would try to keep her movements to a minimum. At first, it became a challenge to Suvi. She wanted to make Sara feel good and she wanted to know it.

After several minutes of mixing up her motions, Suvi felt a bit of frustration. Ryder hadn’t flinched or moved a muscle, and Suvi felt a bit insulted. Was she not doing a good job? Was Sara bored? She tried to find a rational reason as to why Sara wouldn’t be enjoying herself, but Suvi just fought harder to find a reaction.

Sara kept her eyes on the screen in front of her, but she had no idea what was happening in the movie. Suvi’s touch felt too damn good to notice. She felt her fiancée’s finger slip over her clit slow in pace. Up and down at first, then slowly speeding up a bit, working from side to side. 

The rise and fall of Sara chest was slightly beginning to speed up just enough for the couple to notice. Suvi rolled her finger in a circle, hoping to get any kind of feedback from the Pathfinder- any kind of sign that said this is what Sara wanted.

The circular motion Suvi was drawing elicited a chain of small reactions from Sara. She began chewing on her bottom lip and tilted her head back against the couch. She didn’t know how to keep still while Suvi continuously rubbed over that  _ one  _ spot.

A pernicious smirk took over Suvi’s lips, covered by Sara’s arm. She spotted the answers she needed- it  _ is  _ what Sara wanted. The redhead quickened her movements, forming small, quick circles over Sara’s slit. She watched her partner’s face for more confirmation.

Sara told herself she was surrounded by people. It would be inappropriate to react in any way, but how could she possibly stop the woman beside her from what she was doing? This is the most touch from Suvi she had gotten in almost three months. She needed more. She gave into the feeling and tried to compress her reactions. Her head remained rested against the back of the couch, mouth wide open, determined to let nothing out. She scrunched her eyes and clenched her body, willing herself to keep still as Suvi kept moving.

“Ryder, you better not be falling asleep. This movie was  _ your  _ suggestion.” Lexi spotted what she believed to be Sara yawning, luckily for the couple. “Open your eyes, we’re watching this because of you.” She scoffed.

The blonde slowly lifted her head and opened her eyes. Suvi never slowed down even as Sara tried to utter a response. “I’m not falling asleep. I’m watching it.” Her voice was weak and small in order to speak straight.

Sara barely squirmed, but enough to be noticed by Suvi. She felt the pressure build and she craved release. She grimaced and softly grunted at the feeling and she knew she was getting close. She grabbed Suvi’s wrist under the blanket and matched eyes with her.

Suvi noticed the desperation in Sara’s eyes and slowly nodded with the same mischievous smirk. Watching Sara fight for release was bliss. She trapped her bottom lip with her teeth and worked to give Sara what she’d been wanting.

Ryder kept her focus on Suvi and her attention on her motions. She gave into the back and forth movements of her finger, eventually building up to be enough. The blonde trembled and let out one, long exhale, never breaking eye contact with Suvi.

Suvi marveled at how Sara could keep so tame during climax, she almost envied it. Ryder was never able to be spontaneous with her because of how flamboyant Suvi was during sex. Though as long as Suvi could please her partner, she was content.

Watching the effects that she had caused, Suvi wanted some of her own- she wasn’t finished. She silently cursed every extra body in her own bedroom and generated a plan to work in her favor. 

Ryder was falling from her high and rubbed her eyes as she looked in Suvi’s direction. Immediately, Sara knew what her lover wanted. She smirked and raised a brow to the redhead, wondering if she should cancel what remained of the movie. Suvi’s expression said that she had a way around the cancellation, however.

The Scot repositioned herself from outside of Ryder’s arm, and stretched. “I’m going to the bathroom.” She purred in a half-lazy voice.

“Sshh!” Kallo was quick to hush his friend, while Cora waved a dismissive hand.

Sara noticed the mannerisms of the team worked in her favor. Most of them wouldn’t even notice her absence if she left. She stood to trail after Suvi and barked out a small excuse to knock out any suspicion. “I’m going to get more popcorn.”

“Oh I want some, too.” Lexi whispered and held up her empty bowl. “Thanks.”

The Pathfinder paused at the blockage in her plans and took the bowl anyways. Lexi wouldn’t notice the wait.

The blonde quickly placed Lexi’s empty bowl on the Galley counter and scurried into the bathroom across the hall. The door parted, exposing a more-than-ready Scot awaiting her arrival.

“Fucking finally.” Suvi rushed up to her fiancée and cradled her face with both hands. The liplock she pulled Sara into was close to a frustrated greed. No time was wasted as Suvi quickly made the first move and slid the tip of her tongue to meet Sara’s.

Ryder heard the need in her woman’s voice and it acted as a fuel to drive on. The fact the Suvi’s potty mouth was shining through was enough for Sara to follow orders without question; she just wondered where the motive came from all of a sudden.

Suvi clawed off Ryder’s shirt and her own, breaking up the kiss into sloppy segments. The fire in the pit of her stomach crawled between her legs more so than before. She had just then felt the full effects of waiting out nearly three months of no sex. 

The Pathfinder and her fiancée both had what they would describe to be a healthy sex life. Both women enjoyed it equally, why not take advantage of free time with what’s enjoyed the most? The consequences of waiting longer than usual started to creep through and caused both parties to spiral into a desperate tangle.

Ryder shimmied out of her shorts while helping Suvi out of hers. The Scot’s bare-naked body was waiting to be taken advantage of. She begged to be used in any way possible, and gave a look of desire.

Greedy fingertips and avid eyes worked their way over suvi’s body and down her bare back until they reached her ass. Sara squeezed and brushed her lips against Suvi’s. “Oh my God.”

Suvi scrunched her eyes and whispered against her lover’s lips. “Sara, please do something.” Her plea came out as a whine of annoyance. She needed to feel something that Ryder could give her. 

Sara couldn’t decide what she wanted to do. She ran through every possible way she wanted Suvi. Every position, every angle, every touch and noise, she starved for it all. She bided her time with an ardent kiss and made up her mind of what to do first.

The blonde propped the scientist up on the bathroom counter and did the most predictable thing that came to mind. She placed herself between Suvi’s thighs and ran her tongue along Suvi’s wetness. 

Suvi didn’t mind the predictability, she was just thankful Sara finally made a move. At first, Sara’s pace was a tad too slow for her liking. She floundered under Sara’s grip, letting her partner know that it wasn’t the time for a leisurely stroll.

Ryder paid attention to Suvi’s wishes and mixed things up. Her tongue ran the length of Suvi’s slit once more before picking up the speed. Her tongue practically vibrated against Suvi’s clit, and alternated between sucking and licking.

Her mind was quickly guided to the pace in Sara’s actions. Suvi braced herself on the counter and let out a soft moan she didn’t expect to escape. Her knuckles began to turn white at the force of her grip. She wrapped one leg around Sara while propping her other foot on Sara’s shoulder.

Sara didn’t allow Suvi to get too comfortable on the counter. She picked her up and placed her on the floor where Sara had better control. She pushed her lips against Suvi’s and placed the palm of her hand on top of the redhead’s mound to create pressure.

The pressure was welcomed with a muffled moan of appreciation from the Doctor, but she still wanted more. “Please.” Her beseechment was the only word that she could form at the time, but Sara knew what she wanted.

Ryder slowly pushed two fingers inside of Suvi at first, and immediately started with a speed suitable for Suvi’s needs. She watched her partner arch her back and cover her mouth to lower the volume on her proof of pleasure.

Suvi squirmed and writhed underneath Sara until her muscles tightened one last time until they released. She exhaled through a giggle of disbelief. “I- wow.” She sniggered.

The blonde used her forearm to wipe away the sweat that beaded on her forehead and returned a chuckle. Witnessing the beautiful Suvi Anwar collect an orgasm via her touch was heavenly. She sat in the floor next to her panting lover and moved to clean herself up.

“Did you honestly think you were getting away without yours?” Suvi propped up on her knees and pushed Sara onto the floor to straddle her.

“I’ve already had mine?” Sara questioned the Scot on top of her and ran her fingertips along the smooth skin of her back.

Suvi raised an eyebrow and scoffed. “You mean that during the movie? That was nothing, Love.” She placed small kisses down her fiancée’s body until she reached her destination between her Pathfinder’s legs.

Sara chuckled at first until she discovered Suvi starting to use the same method she used on her earlier. “Oh shit, girl.”

The redhead made it her own personal mission to achieve the same feeling to Sara as Sara dealt to her. She took her time, which didn’t take much and felt perfectly content with her results.

The women planned for Suvi to head back to their room first, then Sara followed in shortly after. Upon her entrance, she made herself comfortable on the far end of the couch across from Cora and Scott.

Doctor T’Perro noted Suvi’s arrival and glanced at her Omni-tool. “Have you seen Sara? She was supposed to get my popcorn fifteen minutes ago.”

PeeBee flipped over on the floor and shushed the disturbance. “Sshhhh!”

Suvi looked to Lexi and shook her head, feigning genuine curiosity.

The asari caught a glance at the redhead’s face the very moment the screen brightened. She crumpled her expression with true concern and scooted closer to Suvi. “Why is your face so red? You’ve been in the bathroom a long time, were you ill?”

Doctor Anwar immediately tried to hide her embarrassment and shook her head for an answer the same moment Sara walked in without popcorn. 

Lexi arched an eyebrow at Suvi’s peculiar behavior and noticed the missing snacks. She glanced at Sara, then again at Suvi before dramatically changing her expression. Once she believed she had her answers, she gave up guessing and shifted back into her original position.

There wasn’t much over thirty minutes left of the movie, sending Suvi into a light sleep. The lights came on and the people started to leave one by one.

“Come on Drack,” Lexi patted the Krogan on the shoulder to awaken him. “It’s time to migrate to the Galley.”

Once everyone was gone but the two occupants of the room and Cora, the commando requested details of the week ahead.

“I’m not sure what all is on the list, I guess we find out tomorrow,” Sara informed the Lieutenant with the only information she had. “And I guess we have to finish up all these wedding plans.” She have a wide-eyed glance to Cora, acting as a signal for help.

Harper threw her hands up in surrender as she started to leave. “That’s all you.” She chuckled.

“No, Cora, wait.” Ryder flashed a glance at the still-slumbering Suvi and scurried in front of Cora. “I’ll go to Tann and request a raise during your time as Captain while you fill in for me while I’m gone. You just gotta’ help me with my wedding stuff and I’ll talk to him.”

The huntress gritted her teeth in silence as she considered the Pathfinder’s terms. “Fine, I’ll help. But don’t be difficult.”

Sara scoffed and sarcastically dismissed Cora’s statement. “When am I ever difficult? Kay, bye.” She shoved her friend out of the room and wandered over to her sleeping partner.

Ryder scooped up Suvi and gently placed her in the bed, covering her up shortly after. Her eyes trailed over the youthful face of her fiancée and thanked her Lucky stars for such an incredible woman. Nothing in the galaxy was worth losing her over. 

  
  
  


 

 


End file.
